The state Panchayat and Rural Development department on Wednesday distributed bicycles among 7,000 women under Prani Mitra scheme to celebrate International Women's Day.
Subrata Mukherjee state minister for Panchayat and Rural development department distributed them at a function at Sarat Sadan in Howrah. The pink coloured cycles contain a logo of Anandadhara. They were distributed under State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM).
The cycles were distributed among the workers of Self Help Groups who will visit the farmers and make them aware of the various schemes provided by the state government as well as will give tips about the maintenance of livestock. The cycles will immensely benefit them as it will be easier for them to cover long distance, a senior state government official said.
He said that many rural women were playing a leading role in making people aware of Nirmal Bangla Mission. The women leaders of zilla parishads down to the gram panchayats along with the Karmadhakya, Panchayat pradhan along with their counterparts in anganwari, Self Help Groups etc have been engaged to ask people not to litter in the open and to use the toilets. It is difficult for people to change the age-old habit and the women volunteers are visiting every household requesting them not to defecate in the open. It may be mentioned that Nadia is the country's first ODF district.
The other six districts that have been declared ODF are Hooghly, East Midnapore, Nadia, South 24 Parganas, Burdwan and Cooch Behar. In the past three years, more that 44 lakh household toilets have been constructed spanning over 109 blocks, 1,669 gram panchayats and 19,209 villages. The women who are playing the leading role are teachers or anganwari workers or even housewives. All of them have played a major role in mobilising public opinion. Sibani Dakua of Cooch Behar, Jharna Sarkar and Rinku Mondol of Malda, Buri Maddi of Birbhum, Sayantani Mazumdar of North 24 Parganas, Arati Roy Rajbangshi of North Dinajpur, Namita Khan of West Midnapore are some of well known names who have played leading roles in creating public awareness.