Directorate of Rural Sanitation hosts Sarpanch Samvaad with Sarpanchs of Kashmir

SRINAGAR, February 16: Continuing its efforts towards the cleanliness of the villages, the Directorate of Rural Sanitation, Jammu and Kashmir today organized a virtual “Sarpanch Samvaad” through the participation of community members, PRIs, and all other stakeholders. 

The event was aimed to promote the importance of maintaining clean and hygienic environments in rural areas and to encourage community members and stakeholders to take an active role in achieving this goal.

The Samvaad was attended by Sarpanches from Anantnag, Ganderbal, Budgam, Pulwama, and Shopian districts, as well as Block Development Officers of the respective Panchayats. 

The Samvaad began with a video  on ODF Plus activities and was followed by a detailed presentation on various components of SBM-G Phase II. 

The Director Rural Sanitation J&K, Charandeep Singh interacted with the Sarpanchs during the event. 

He held a detailed discussion with the Sarpanches on various aspects of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen. This included Solid Waste Management, Grey Water Management, Black Water Management, Installation of Bio Gas Plants, Capacity Building of various stakeholders, and maintaining cleanliness in the Blocks, Panchayats, and villages. 

He  stressed the importance of understanding the relevance of the scheme and everyone’s role in its successful implementation. He emphasized the need for teamwork with the PRIs in maintaining the cleanliness of the villages. 

The Director further elaborated on how a village is declared as ODF Plus, and shared that more than 4000 villages have already been declared as ODF Plus in the UT. He highlighted the importance of focusing on behavioral change regarding cleanliness at the community and individual level, as well as laying stress on construction of assets and infrastructure, technical knowledge, and deployment of human resources.

While speaking, Advocate Farooq Ahmed Ganai, Sarpanch Panchayat Shadiwara, Block Hillar, District Anantnag emphasized on sanitation drives with community participation, compost pits, soak pits and plastic waste management in his panchayat.

Manzoor Ahmed Thoker, Sarpanch Panchayat Sugan Block Chitragam, District Shopian discussed the efforts being done by his panchayat to remove legacy waste.

Sajad Ahmed Bhat, Sarpanch Panchayat Ramnagri-A, Block Ramnagri, District Shopian discussed about the door to door collection and removal of legacy waste and appreciated the efforts being done by Directorate of Rural Sanitation, J&K.

Some of the sarpanches elaborated the various initiatives taken by them towards  cleanliness in their villages like “Give Plastic Take Reward” “Safai Sathi”, Community Contribution and by imposing byelaws for user charges and also suggested inter district and inter panchayat visits for better understanding and cross learning.

The Director Rural Sanitation further provided a detailed briefing on Swachh Survekshan Grameen-2023 and also appreciated the good performing districts.

During the interaction, he emphasized that Solid Waste Management is currently the top priority of the Government. He lauded the efforts being made by the Sarpanches towards maintaining cleanliness in their respective areas and assured them of the Department’s full cooperation in making arrangements for Solid Waste Management, Liquid Waste Management, and other related initiatives. 

The Director’s interaction with the Sarpanches underscored the Government’s commitment towards promoting a clean and healthy environment in rural areas, and highlighted the need for concerted efforts in this regard.