Swachh Mission: Only 4 Meerut villages open defecation free

MEERUT: Come October 2, and the Centre will be marking two years of the launch of its ambitious Swachh Bharat Mission.
One of the major targets of the mission was to make the entire country open defecation free (ODF).
However, in the national capital’s neighbouring Meerut district, only four of the total 482 villages have become open defecation free so far.
Chief development officer (CDO) Vishak Iyer admitted that the district made no progress in the field, but called for renewed efforts.
“The entire exercise has to start from the scratch. Surprisingly, Meerut has not witnessed any development in this area at all so far. But now things are moving fast. We have shortlisted 40 volunteers per block to participate in the process. Meerut has 12 blocks, so 480 volunteers will undergo test and interview process on Thursday. Later, they will be trained to improve their oratory skills,” Iyer said.
Apart from the CDO’s assurance, there seems to be another ray of hope for Meerut.
Newly-posted district magistrate (DM) of Meerut, B Chandrakala, holds the distinction of being the only DM from Uttar Pradesh to be awarded by the Centre for her “elaborate” work in checking open defecation. Leaving the other UP districts behind, as many as 300 villages of Bijnor have become open defecation-free.
DM Chandrakala told TOI: “ODF is one scheme that requires multi-pronged strategy. Simply erecting toilets at homes does not work as people have the tendency to switch over to the ‘traditional ways’. So, we will employ the same strategy here that we did in Bijnor. Motivating villagers and encouraging them to erect their own toilets by providing them with financial assistance has been the hallmark of the endeavour in this district in particular.”
She further said, “Continuous sensitisation at ground-level and apprising villagers of the ill-effects of defecating in open combined with providing them with technical knowhow on building their own toilets has worked wonders in other districts. Besides, district administration will ensure to maintain supply management in relation to workforce and raw material.”
On August 25, Chandrakala was felicitated by the Union ministry of drinking water and sanitation on her “constructive endeavours” taken to implement open defecation free (ODF) scheme. Swachh Mission brand ambassador Sachin Tendulkar had presented her with a bat and felicitation letter at a function in Delhi.
The ministry felicitated 33 IAS officers throughout the country.