Kolkata: Secretary of state Panchayats and Rural Development (P &RD) department P Ulaganathan on Tuesday batted for behavioural change on the part of the people and at the same time urged workers at the ground level to work with more dedication to eliminate open defecation in the true sense of the term.
At a state-level workshop on ‘rural sanitation’ which was attended by joint Block Development Officers (BDO) from all 345 blocks, Additional District Magistrates and district nodal officers looking after sanitation, Ulaganathan made a presentation that revealed that open defecation is still a reality in some areas . He claimed that more activation on the part of those working at the ground level be it NGO, Panchayat Pradhan, Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) or other stakeholders can bring behavioural change among the rural masses.
35 persons that includes BDO, Joint BDOs, NGOs, Panchayat Pradhan, FPOs were awarded at the programme and were identified as sanitation champions for their good work in solid waste management, liquid waste management and plastic waste management.
The awards were handed over by minister in-charge of the department Pradip Majumder and two ministers of state of the department, Becharam Manna and Seuli Saha. Ulaganathan and Santosha GR, Mission Director of Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), were present. Mazumdar said that the Panchayat which will perform best in shredding of plastic and composting the same will be awarded from next year.
The state P &RD department has set a target of constructing 6.5 lakh toilets in this fiscal to further curb open defecation.