Chhattisgarh has obtained second position at national-level under Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus category of ‘Gandagi Mukt Bharat Mission’. Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat gave away Swachh Bharat Awards-2020 in a virtual programme held on the occasion of 151st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, on Friday.

 

Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti Rattan Lal Kataria also attended the programmme. Principal Secretary of Panchayat and Rural Development Department, Government of Chhattisgarh Gaurav Dwivedi and Director of Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) Dharmesh Sahu participated in the award ceremony through video conferencing. In the ODF Plus category of ‘Gandagi Mukth Bharat Mission’, Chhattisgarh was honoured with the Awards in the programme. Panchayat and Rural Development Minister T S Singhdeo has congratulated the officials of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) for this achievement.

 

Singhdeo has appreciated the awareness of the Panchayat representatives and villagers for the ODF Plus villages. Minister Singhdeo called the Panchayat representatives for being active and aware to keep the village clean and beautiful. He said that Chhattisgarh has been a pioneer in the implementation of Phase-1 of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

 

The State had received Rs 174 crore as performance grant from World Bank in 2018 and 2019. The State has received Rs 68 crore as performance grant from the World Bank this year. Under the Phase-2 of Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural), the villages are being made clean by working on solid and liquid waste management including sustainability. 62 villages in Chhattisgarh have been declared the ODF Plus villages under ‘Gandagi Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’.