Harda initiative for open defecation free villages touches heart of PM
Bhopal: The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has lavishly showered praise on the Harda district’s initiative of Operation Mallyudh(Combating Open Defecation) under the the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan and ‘Brother Number One’ campaign while addressing the nation through Man Ki Baat from All India Radio today.
Shri Modi appreciated the efforts of Harda district authorities to stop the practice of open defecation and congratulated them for this innovative drive.
Shri Modi said ‘the initiative by the officials of Harda district of Madhya Pradesh has touched my heart.’ He said that Clean India Campaign has got a new dimension with unique initiative like ‘Brother Number One’. Elaborating the features of the initiative, he said that brothers on Raksha Bandhan should promise to build a toilet for their sisters for their dignity. The Prime Minister said that ‘if all brothers do it, then entire district will be free from open defecation in honour of mothers and sisters”. He said that “Raksha Bandhan is the best occasion for this. He congratulated the entire team of Harda district administration”.
It is worth recalling here that Harda district in 2014-15 decided to construct 9000 toilets out of which 5862 toilets were built. Villages in 24 gram panchayats have became open defecation free villages. In 2015-16, as many as 1976 toilets against the targeted 18 thousand 686 in toilets have been constructed and nearly four thousand are under construction. As many as 30 villages in 15 gram panchayats have become open defecation free villages.
What Is Operation Mallyuddh?
Harda district has resolved to make its villages free from open defecation by end of next year. This operation has been named as Operation Mallyuddh. Launched in May 2014, dedicated people from within the society have been designated as commandos to fight out the menace. Gram Panchayat sarpanchas, secretaries, people’s representatives and voluntary organizations have been involved in addition to committed government officials.
How commandos work?
The selected Commandos move in groups. They have been given training in facilitation. They move from village to village in the morning and evening time cautioning villagers not to sit in open space for defecation. They keep on whistling to caution the people. If they find anyone negligent, they go on the spot and counsel him about personal and community hygiene. The Commandos keep on motivating villagers and sometime even help clean the filthy sites. Villagers have learnt from them and have promised to build and use toilets.
The energetic and dedicated volunteers of commandos’ groups have formed village-level monitoring committee. This committee’s mandate is to discourage open defecation and motivate villagers to use the toilets. The local women have also been involved in this operation.
What Is Brother Number One Initiative?
This initiative has been designed to encourage brothers to come forward and offer to build toilets for their sisters as a gift on Raksha Bandhan. The Harda district has launched a competition among the brothers to become number one in offering such a gift on Raksha Bandhan.
The gift of toilet is an honour and dignity for their sister. For all brothers in urban and rural areas of the district, application forms are available from July 15 to August 15, 2015. They will be felicitated at district level grand felicitation ceremony for building the best toilets for sisters. The application fee is Rs. five. The application from will have details like name, father’s name, occupation, village name, Muhalla, wards, Nagar Panchayat, toilet use verification report, construction cost etc.
