August 2, 2019
Rural Bangla is now ‘open defecation free’, announces Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today made a welcome announcement: rural Bangla was now ‘open defecation free’. The Government of India has confirmed this, certifying efforts by the State to enable its people to use toilets instead of in the open.
The good news was shared by the Chief Minister on her Facebook page a little while back. It is the culmination of the relentless drive by the State Government at all levels in the districts, down to the panchayats and villages, over the last few years, beginning with Mamata Banerjee’s inauguration of Mission Nirmal Bangla on November 19, 2013.
In the post, Mamata Banerjee said this achievement was the State’s ‘mission towards a cleaner and greener environment and safe living’. Approximately 1.35 crore households have been covered under Mission Nirmal Bangla, she informed.
The Chief Minister made another important announcement through her post: the State Government’s next mission would be solid waste management.
Needless to say, the Chief Minister has played a leading part in this journey of five-and-a-half years.
It may be recalled that Nadia district administration had received the UN Public Service Award in 2015 for the project ‘Sabar Souchagar’, which made the district the first-ever open defecation free (ODF) district in the country.
Since then, there has been a step-by-step progression, with a few districts being declared ODF every year, culminating in this achievement of a 100 per cent open-defecation free rural Bangla.
Here is her Facebook post:
