JOIN USThere are all possibility of Dakshina Kannada district receiving ‘Nairmalya Ratna’ award instituted by the state government on par with the Centre’s Nirmala Grama Puraskar awards for Gram Panchayats, to accelerate the implementation of Total Sanitation Campaign.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Zilla Panchayat CEO P Shivashankar said “the award is given mainly for the sustainability of the total sanitation campaign after receiving the Centre’s Nirmala Grama Puraskar. An eight member team from the sanitation and water board had visited the district to review the work under total sanitation campaign. They had randomly visited 13 gram panchayats in the district to assess the sustainability of the campaign and have recommended for the ‘Nairmalya Rathna’ award of the state government.” The State sanitation reward scheme is called ‘Nairmalya.’ The Nairmalya awards consists of financial awards with citations at different levels i e at Taluk, District, Division and and State levels, he added.
The award will carry Rs 30 lakh fund to work further towards the sanitation. The award was supposed to be presented on World Sanitation Day. However, it will be presented later according to the department of Panchayat Raj, says CEO.
“In fact, under Central government’s ‘Sampoorna Swacchatha Andolan,’ all the 203 Gram Panchayats in the district have received Niramala Grama Puraskar. In the block level, three blocks have already been declared as free from open defecation. They include Belthangady, Bantwal and Puttur. Mangalore and Sullia blocks are yet to be declared as free from open defecation. The Central team has already visited these two blocks and reviewed the taluks for the Block award of the Union Government,” he said.
“The work on Sampoorna Swacchatha Andolan began in the district effectively from October 2, 2005. Regular assessment and monitoring of the implementation of the scheme helped us in overcoming the loopholes in the system,” he added. He said “as all the Gram Panchayats have received the Niramala Grama Puraskar in Dakshina Kannada, there are all possibility of the district getting the State award for maintaining the sustainability under the project.”
A team from the Central government will visit the district to assess and review the Total Sanitation Campaign to consider Dakshina Kannada district for the award of the Central government under Total Sanitation Campaign soon, he added.