Punjab govt to launch campaign against open defecation

The Punjab government would launch a week-long awareness campaign against the ill effects of open defecation starting from August 9 with the target to "make rural Punjab open defecation free by the end of this year."
Under the 'Freedom from Open Defecation' programme, the government would carry out awareness across the state, Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa said.
Policy makers, community leaders and administrators would also be made part of this campaign, he added.
Bajwa said the target was to make rural Punjab open defecation free by the end of this year, adding that comedians and film actors Jaswinder Bhalla and Binnu Dhillon would be associated with the 'Mission Swachh and Swasth Punjab' as brand ambassadors in the State.

He said the government would carry out awareness programmes through mass media, mid media (folk drama and folk performance, street theatre, puppet shows, video vans, and also fairs and exhibitions), interpersonal communication (IPC) programmes, seminars and student rallies.
Outlining the salient achievements of the Department, he said rural areas of 9 districts (Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana, Moga, SAS Nagar, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Barnala, Faridkot and SBS Nagar) have been self-declared as Open Defecation Free (ODF) by Gram Panchayats and respective Deputy Commissioners.

In all, 52 blocks and 5953 villages have been declared ODF till date.
He said 1.98 lakh households have constructed latrines and construction of 1.21 lakh latrines are under construction.

Bajwa said his department has roped in School Education Department to organize various competitions at the district level on slogan writing, declamation contest, painting/drawing competition and poetry writing and recitation competition in schools and colleges, focusing on the ill effects of open defecation, build and use toilets and the benefits of leach pit technology.
He announced that mass tree plantation drive would be organized on August 9 across the state by the Department with the assistance of the Forest Department.
The Department would plant trees at more than 8,000 water works in the rural areas wherein a total of about 1.25 lakh trees will be planted during the drive, he added.