Actor Aamir Khan lauds District Officials for Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen)

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, organised an ODF Sustainability workshop here on January 12, 2020, with a special session by Aamir Khan (Actor and Founder, Paani Foundation).

As part of the workshop, the Swachhata Darpan Awards were presented by Khan to the best performing districts on key swachhata parameters. The awardees include East Godavari (Andhra Pradesh), West Kameng (Arunachal Pradesh), Bemtara (Chhattisgarh), Diu (Daman and Diu), Panipat (Haryana), Vadodara (Gujarat), Kolhapur (Maharashtra), Moga (Punjab), East Sikkim (Sikkim), and Pedappali (Telangana). Four districts : Dibrugarh (Assam), Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), and Puri (Odisha) , were also awarded for innovations and initiatives for Plastic Waste Management.

Aamir Khan then interacted with the gathering of Collectors, DDCs, CDOs and other officials from selected states. He lauded the work done at the grassroots by the officials and shared his experience with initiatives made by Paani Foundation in the area of water conservation. The gathered officials shared best practices from their districts for promoting ODF Sustainability goals and explore areas for future initiatives with the celebrated actor, according to a PIB release.

Addressing the gathering, Secretary, DDWS, Parameswaran Iyer, congratulated state representatives for their commendable work and leadership in improving sanitation access in rural areas in past five years leading to ODF declaration of India on October 2, 2019, under Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen (SBM-G).

The workshop included presentations by two District Collectors on key themes for ODF Sustainability: Information, Education and Communication (IEC); and Community Toilets.

District Collector, Peddapalli ,made  presentation on the role of IEC towards promoting ODF Plus and Sustainability. The presentation highlighted important IEC initiatives in the district like Mana Swachhata, Mana Gouravam under which screening of popular SBM-G films along with cultural events is done across Gram Panchayats in Peddapalli.

District Collector, Muzaffarpur, presented innovative initiatives taken by the district administration for the construction of Community Toilets to address any households which may be left behind in the access to household toilet, and to ensure universal sanitation access in the district.