Centre to support local self govts in waste mgmt: Chandappa

The Centre would support local self governments under the Swachh Bharat Mission to decentralise and strengthen solid and liquid waste management systems, Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi said here today.
"The Centre will support Local Self governments under the schemes of Swachh Bharat Mission to decentralise solid and liquid management systems which have to be strengthened," he said.
The Centre would extend financial aid to panchayats to provide drinking water and to take up sanitation work, Chandappa said after inaugurating a two-day national workshop on Solid and Liquid Waste Management here.
Kerala Minister for Local Self Governments K T Jaleel said the state was moving towards its goal of achieving open defecation free state by November 1 this year.

"Kerala will become the first open defecation free state in the country with considerable population by November 1, the state formation day," he said.
Jaleel said government has issued directions to civic bodies to earmark 10 per cent of their development fund allocation for sanitation and waste management activities this year.

"Along similar lines of the campaign we did for literacy and decentralisation, a new people's movement will be launched from November 1 next for participatory and people owned solutions in the waste management sector," he said.
New initiatives under Liquid Waste Management are also in the pipeline, Jaleel added.

Later speaking to reporters, Chandappa said one of the main aims of the Swachh Bharat Mission was to make India an open defecation free country by October 2, 2019.
"It is a challenging task," he said.
More than 600 million people in country lacked access to toilets and 90 per cent of this was in rural areas, it was pointed out.
In the last 18 months, much progress has been achieved in providing households individual under Swachh Bharat Mission, Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation Parameswara Iyer said.