Madurai Additional Collector felicitated by Sachin Tendulkar

Rohini Ramdas, Additional Collector and Project Officer of District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) here, was one among the 16 IAS officials felicitated by master batsman and Rajya Sabha MP Sachin Tendulkar at the Swachh Bharat Collectors’ Conference held in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The conference was arranged by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in association with United Nation’s Children’s Emergency Fund to share the experiences of Collectors who had made significant progress in their respective districts towards total sanitation through innovative approaches.

Mr. Tendulkar, being one of the ambassadors of both the Swachh Bharat Mission and UNICEF, participated in the interactive session as the chief guest to understand from the experience of officials on how eminent persons like him could intervene in the mission to have maximum impact.

Ms. Rohini, the only official nominated to represent Tamil Nadu, said that the strategies followed in Madurai district were highly appreciated by Mr. Tendulkar.

“In his speech at the end, he said that he was very much impressed by the focus given to community participation in the district towards eradication of open defecation,” she said.

She added that Mr. Tendulkar was also appreciative of the

K2K (Kanmaikarai to Kazhiparai – From tankbund

toilet

) , a unique volunteer-based approach adopted in the district, and Open Defecation Free (ODF) Saturdays, in which all the officials work an extra day dedicatedly for sanitation related work.

Of the 420 village panchayats in Madurai, 80 have become ODF villages thus far.