Rural areas of Naragund taluk declared ODF
Referring to examples of individuals from across the country including Karnataka who fought against odds to get toilets constructed in their households and localities, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu said that only when people’s participation increased could the dream of ‘Swachh Bharat’ by 2019 be achieved.
He was addressing a gathering at Konnur village in Naragund Taluk of Gadag district on Tuesday after making a formal announcement declaring rural areas of Naragund taluk as ‘Open Defecation Free’ (ODF) in the presence of Governor Vajubhai Vala and Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj H.K. Patil.
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, he said sanitation was more important than freedom and cleanliness was next to godliness. Congratulating the residents of Naragund taluk, he said he was happy to declare the area ODF and said: “There is need for every Indian to become part of the people’s movement so that the goal of a Clean India is achieved by 2nd October, 2019, which marks the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi”.
While UNICEF said good sanitation could save Rs. 50,000 per family per year, the World Bank said lack of sanitation cost over 6% of GDP. Approximately 1 lakh children died in the country due diarrhoea and other diseases linked to lack of sanitation, Mr. Naidu said.
Good example
Referring to the Swachh Bharat campaign initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Naidu said people from different sections of the society had responded to it apart from State governments and local bodies. “Today, by becoming ODF, Naragund has set a good example wherein both the State and Union governments, local bodies and above all the people have come together for a common cause”, he said highlighting the need to look beyond politics in issues concerning development.
On the improvement in the situation after the launch of the campaign, Mr. Naidu said that the number of Indians defecating in the open in rural and urban areas which was estimated to be around 60 crore in 2014 had come down to 30 crore now. “Over 2,45,000 villages, 1,300 cities, 200 districts and 5 states have been declared open defecation free. All villages along the banks of the Ganga have been declared ODF. Over 50% of urban wards have door to door collection of municipal solid waste and nearly 100 MW energy is being produced from waste in the country”, he said.
Lauding the active interest taken by Karnataka in making the State ODF he said the State had shown a remarkable progress by achieving 72% household sanitation coverage from 30% in 2014. Commending the State government’s “Shouchalayakkagi Samara’ (Crusade for Toilets) under which 12,000 villages, 50 blocks and 7 districts had been declared as Open Defecation Free, Mr. Naidu felt naming a campaign in one’s mother tongue was always effective.
The Vice-President urged the people not to forget their motherland and mother tongue. Mr. Naidu, who began his speech in Kannada, asked the gathering to give priority to Kannada. “I am not against learning any language. But priority should be to one’s mother tongue and afterwards you can learn and use any language for communication with others”, he said amid thunderous applause from the crowd.
