In a step towards a cleaner district, 44 villages were declared open defecation-free (ODF) by the village panchayats during their gram sabha meetings and honoured by the district administration and the District Rural Development Authority here on Friday.
Panchayat presidents and residents of the villages participated in a rally from the Collectorate premises, which was led by Additional Collector Rohini Ramdas.
The rally also had a person dressed like Mahatma Gandhi to symbolically represent the stress he laid on the importance of good sanitation.
Ms. Rohini Ramdas said that they appreciated the efforts made by the panchayats to eradicate open defection in their villages.
“We will now see if they are able to sustain efforts for the next six months. This is the first time that the villages have declared themselves as open defecation-free and we are encouraging more villages to take up this step towards safe sanitation,” she said.
Through the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan Scheme and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the DRDA has been promoting the construction of individual household latrines as well as sanitation complexes in villages.