Gram panchayats to spearhead campaign to make toilets colourful

BENGALURU : The ministry of drinking water and sanitation has launched a month-long campaign — Swachh Sundar Shauchalaya — which seeks to promote ownership and sustained usage of crores of toilets built under the Swachh Bharat Mission and give them a facelift.

The campaign, launched on January 1, is about mobilising households to paint and decorate their toilets. It will be spearheaded by gram panchayats (GPs) and coordinated by the district administration.

“It is a c entral government project but we are not being funded by the Centre. Citizens are supposed to paint the toilets with their own money however they want,” said Archana Rao, CEO, Bengaluru Urban zilla panchayat (ZP).

Through the month, household owners shall be motivated to beautify their toilets by applying a fresh coat of paint and decorating them creatively, including Swachh Bharat logos and messages on safe sanitation. The panchayat development officers and secretaries are already working towards implementing the campaign, Rao added.

Nearly 2.5 lakh GPs from India are invol ved in the campaign. The award will be based on the number of toilets painted and creativity.