Secretary, Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation Mr. Parmeshwaran Aiyyer called on the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mr. Akhilesh Yadav at his official residence . During the meeting, deliberations were held on various issues like bringing to an end open defecation as well as construction and mandatory use of toilets.
The Chief Minister apprised the central government officer that ‘Clean UP, Green UP’ and State Nutrition Mission were among top priorities of the state government. The Chief Minister said that his government wanted to tackle malnutrition through the State Nutrition Mission and keen to improve the health of the people of the state. In this Mission, Mr. Yadav said, cleanliness targets have already been incorporated. Mr. Yadav also informed that the state government has already initiated steps to ensure an end to the practice of open defecation and under this drive, special focus was being laid on construction of toilets in rural areas and schools. People are also being made aware of the ill-effects of open defecation, he stated.
The Chief Minister added that the state government for complete eradication of open defecation, has selected the Kannauj Parliamentary constituency for ODF and informed that the state government had made an arrangement of Rs 1,536 crore for construction of clean toilets in the budget for the year 2016-17.
Mr. Yadav also pointed out that to make ODF successful, a drive had been launched to construct toilets in Gram Panchayats and to make people aware of their mandatory use. He also informed that during his visit to Kannauj the previous day, he had given certificates of ODF to some ‘gram panchayats’ for doing good work in this aspect.
Highlights:
State Government keen to improve health of people through ‘Clean UP, Green UP’ and ‘State Nutrition Mission’
State Nutrition Mission and ‘Clean UP, Green UP’ top priorities for the state government
Target set to make Kannauj Parliamentary constituency open-defecation free (ODF)
State Government has arranged for Rs 1,536 crore in budget 2016-17 for construction of clean toilets
Secretary, Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation meets Chief Minister