Unique initiative to free villages from open defecation

In a unique initiative, Harda district administration has offered 25 paise more for a litre of milk, if villages from which it is sourced, are free from open defecation.
"So far, 30 villages in Harda district have been freed from open defecation under the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan. A 25 paise per litre incentive is being given to milk produced in these villages," Harda Collector Rajnish Shrivastava said.
The scheme was launched with the help of Sahyog Swachchh Dugdh Private Limited, which sources milk from villages and pays 25 paise more per litre of milk to villagers if their village is declared free from open defecation," he said.

Swachchh Bharat Mission's Madhya Pradesh Programme Officer Hemwati Varman said that this initiative would enable community participation in sanitation drives and cattle would graze on clean grass unpolluted by human excreta.
Therefore, Sahyog diary management, at the insistence of the district administration, has agreed to provide a higher market value for milk produced by animals grazing clean grass, free of human excreta.
She said that the initiative would also inspire other villages to practise animal husbandry and milk production in a cleaner manner.
Dairy workers constantly monitor the sanitation situation in these villages, she said.