8 cantonment boards of Western Command accorded ODF status

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today felicitated eight cantonment boards of the Western Command with open defecation free (ODF) certificates.
The minister presented the certificates to the board's chief executive officers (CEOs) and president cantonment boards (PCBs).
The eight cantonment boards include Kasauli, Dagshai, Subathu, Jutogh, Dalhousie, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ferozepur, a release by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said.
Sitharaman also congratulated the Defence Estates Department (DGDE) for achieving the ODF taget in eight cantonment boards. She also expressed satisfaction when apprised that all the cantonments boards shall become ODF by December 15.
A sum of Rs 15 crore was announced by the minister towards making a multi-level parking at Kasauli bus stand.

The government is aiming to achieve open defecation free India by October 2, 2019, the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi.
Later, the defence minister visited the Western Command headquarters at the Chandimandir military station in Panchkula. She laid a wreath at the Veer Smriti war memorial and paid homage to the martyrs.
The defence minister promised that the needs of each and every jawan and their families would be catered to.