Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal today launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) on World Toilet Day. This campaign aims to raise awareness about access to and the use of safe and hygienic toilets at both the individual and community levels.
The theme for this year's campaign is Sada Pakhana Sada Maan, and it will conclude on Human Rights Day (December 10, 2024), linking sanitation with human rights and the universal need for dignity and privacy. Jorwal emphasized the government's commitment to maintaining Open Defecation Free (ODF) status while promoting behavioral change within communities for a cleaner and healthier environment.
He directed officers from various departments, including Water Supply and Sanitation, Rural Development, School Education, Social Security, Women and Child Development, and Health and Family Welfare, to ensure maximum community participation through seminars, rallies, and grassroots initiatives.
Furthermore, the Deputy Commissioner also encouraged the organization of village-level camps to run registration drives for Individual Household Latrines (IHHLs) if any and to ensure the speedy construction of IHHLs through micro planning. He also announced that competitions will be held for the best IHHL at the Gram Panchayat level and for the best Community Sanitary Complex (CSC) at the block and district levels, with winners being recognized and felicitated.
Jorwal reiterated that it is the dream of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to make the state clean and added that the district administration is making concerted efforts toward this noble cause.