Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan presented the ‘Nirmalgram Puraskar' to 1,720 villages, in recognition of their achievement of full sanitation, at a function here on Monday.
Ministers Ajit Pawar, Jayant Patil, Laxman Rao Dhobale, Ministers of State, Secretaries of various departments, presidents and vice-presidents of zilla parishads, chairmen of panchayat samitis and sarpanches and gram sevaks of villages selected for the prizes were present.
Congratulating the prize-winning villages, Mr. Sankaranarayanan said: “Maharashtra has once again bagged the maximum number of Nirmalgram Puraskars awarded by the Government of India in this Golden Jubilee year of the formation of the State.”
He added that Maharashtra has had a distinguished tradition of reform movements and leaders who spearheaded mass movements to improve hygiene and sanitation at the personal and societal levels. “Through their works, they gave the message that ‘Cleanliness is next only to Godliness,'” he said.
The Nirmalgram Puraskar is a form of encouragement given to villagers under the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC). TSC is a programme to ensure sanitation facilities in rural areas with the broader goal of eradicating the practice of open defecation. He said major credit for the award should go to the role played by the Sant Gadge Baba Village Cleanliness Campaign launched by the State government in 2000-2001.
The Nirmalgram Puraskar has encouraged a healthy competition among villages. It is because of these efforts and general awareness that the sanitation coverage in rural areas has registered an impressive growth from 22% in 2001 to close to 60 per cent now.
