Centre hails achievement
PNS|Hyderabad
Union Jal Shakti Ministry Secretary Vini Mahajan congratulated Telangana for becoming the first state to declare all Gram Panchayats as Open Defecation Free (ODF) villages.
Vini Mahajan, Secretary, Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Department of the Union Central Water Power Department, held a meeting with TS Chief Secretary Shanti Kumari and officials of the Panchayat Raj Department at the BRKR Bhavan on Wednesday. The CS explained the rural development programmes being implemented in the state to Central Secretary Vani Mahajan.
The Central Secretary appreciated the achievement of ODF status by all villages. Suggesting to make villages ODF++ she said that in ODF+ villages, steps have been taken to treat faecal waste and septic tank sewage without releasing or dumping it into canals, water bodies and open areas.
She asked to set up treatment plants in all villages. She hoped that Telangana would become a model state in the country in making its villages ODF+.
Supplying quality drinking water to every home in the state is a miracle, but the quality of water should be tested regularly, he said. After hearing that many wonderful programmes are being implemented in the villages of Telangana, Mahajan suggested that rural citizens should be involved in all these.
Chief Secretary Shanti Kumari said that every month in the state, Rs 259 crore is being provided to Gram Panchayats. It was explained that steps have been taken to spend 10 per cent of the funds in Gram Panchayats for Telangana’s Haritha Haram project. The greenery in the state has increased by 7.7 per cent due to the project.
He said that Vaikunthadhamas have been constructed in all the villages at a cost of Rs 1,370 crore. Rural Prakruti Vanas have been established in all villages and in addition to these 2,725 Brihat Prakruti Vanas are being established in an area of 10 acres in every mandal and municipality.
The CS said that Telangana is the first state in the country to provide a tractor, a trolley and water tankers to every village panchayat in the state.
