The
Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, in partnership with Ministry of
Youth Affairs and Sports, and Ministry of Water Resources, River Development
and Ganga Rejuvenation, is intensifying support to the five States of
Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, to make all
villages along the banks of the Ganga Open Defecation Free (ODF). There are 5,169
villages along the river Ganga that fall under 1,651 Gram Panchayats (GPs), 52
districts, and 5 States.
The
campaign, being a collaborative effort between the Swachh Bharat
Mission, local youth leaders (युवा)
and
the Namami Gange project (गंगा)
-
is being called ‘Swachh यु-ग’,
which translates into ‘the age of Swachh’.
The
Ministry of Youth Affairs, under the coordination of the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan,
is enlisting the support of youth agencies such as the Bharat Scouts and
Guides, Nehru Yuva Kendras and National Service Scheme. These organizations
will be called upon to provide a large number of local youth volunteers to
support a behaviour change campaign in the 52 districts under the Swachh Bharat
Mission.
To
take this initiative forward, a nodal officer has been identified for each
district to work on making their district Open Defecation Free (ODF) in mission
mode, as well as to focus on ‘Swachhta’ at the village through proper Solid and
Liquid Waste Management and maintaining general cleanliness. In addition to the
monetary incentive offered by the government under the Swachh Bharat Mission,
extensive interpersonal behaviour change communication training will be given
to local trainers through a network of virtual classrooms across the 5 Ganga
States.
The
first Virtual Classroom will be launched tomorrow, June 7, 2014, with 12
districts of Bihar undertaking a 5 day training for 50 youth volunteers in each
location, connected to the trainer virtually. The training will be a mixture of
a classroom interactive component, as well as a field visit component. Youth
volunteer organizations will assist in these districts through massive local youth
involvement.
All
relevant government departments would also be involved to contribute towards making
this initiative a success. The local district administrations of the 5 States,
through a series of video conferences, have been advised to mobilize local
NGOs, associations, private sector organizations, faith-based organizations and
developmental agencies to support this work.
The
districts and States have been assured of full support from the Central
government in these efforts. The State teams have, in turn, expressed their
enthusiasm for and commitment towards the initiative.
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SNC