Bhardwaj, Eshwarappa present Nirmal Gram Puraskar
Presidents of Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, Mangalore and Sullia taluk panchayats, and 103 gram panchayats in the State received the Nirmal Gram Puraskar from Governor H.R. Bhardwaj and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and Revenue Minister K.S. Eshwarappa here on Saturday.
The award is given to rural local bodies for achieving total sanitation under the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC).
Presenting the award for 2011, the Governor said implementation of the programme was slow owing to allocation of meagre funds for construction of toilets.
He told the government to take strict action against the practice of carrying night soil by members of a particular community in rural parts of the State.
DK scores
Among the zilla panchayats, only Dakshina Kannada recorded cent per cent coverage in construction of toilets in all households and schools, and anganwadi centres. Mangalore and Sullia taluks also recorded 100 per cent coverage.
Dakshina Kannada ZP president K.T. Shailaja Bhat, who received the award, thanked the officials of the district for the successful implementation of the scheme.
Earlier, Mr. Eshwarappa said the subsidy for construction of individual household toilets had been increased from Rs. 3,700 to Rs. 9,200 from this financial year.
The below poverty line criterion had also been removed. Nearly 90 per cent of the households in the State could avail themselves of the subsidy, the Minister pointed out.
Even though the TSC was launched on October 2, 2005, over 30 lakh households were yet to have individual toilets in the State.
R. Roshan Baig, MLA, and Principal Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Sanjeev Kumar, and Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan Director M. Deepa were present.
