All gram panchayats in the State are witnessing a flurry of cleaning activities related to the National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey to be held nation wide from November 23.
The survey is being conducted by the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation as part of its evaluation of the sustainable sanitation work, including the open defecation free campaign launched in 2015.
The panchayats that have been declared as ODF areas will be selected randomly by computers based on population.
In Kerala, 148 villages will qualify for participation in the survey.
The Local Administration Department has issued a 12-point advisory to all local bodies to prepare for the survey by carrying out a series of activities to sustain the ODF momentum.
All district missions of the Swachhata Mission have been given a list of to-do activities to ensure that their sanitation work is updated ahead of the survey.
These include convening the ward-level sanitation committees since housed visits will be an important feature of the survey. The evaluation will be conducted by squads comprising elected representatives, officials, resources persons, volunteers and Kudumbashree officials.
The panchayat sanitation committees have been tasked to ensure that all public places and open spaces are free of garbage, geo-tagging of all toilets constructed under the Swachch Bharath Mission.
Soap and water
It will be the responsibility of these committees to ensure that soap and water are available in households located in ODF free areas. Villages located in coastal and tribal areas will get special attention to ensure that their ODF activities are on a sustainable basis.
The village panchayats have been asked to attend to public toilets, in schools and anganwadis and ensure that these are functional.
The sanitation committees have also been asked to be equipped to answer to the surveyors questions related to solid waste management units, their functioning and maintenance.
The evaluators will also examine the method of disposing solid waste from ODF toilets. At the end of the day, the panchayats following best practises will qualify for the Central Government’s certification, according to official sources.
