State govt’s scheme to boost PM’s Swachh Bharat drive fails in Barmer
To boost the Prime Minister’s dream project Swachh Bharat Mission, the state government in 2016 launched “Mukhyamantri Swachchh Gram Yojna” by linking the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the cleanliness mission.
The Centre, under Swachh Bharat Mission or Clean India Mission has set a target to make the country open defecation-free by October 2, 2019, which coincides with the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
But due to desert topography in Barmer, two years on, the scheme has failed to bring any impact in district.
The scheme was announced to be launched only in panchayats which were open defection free.
Until now, the district authorities have able to implement the scheme--aimed at making villages clean and create awareness about cleanliness among the rural people besides encouraging them to recycle biodegradable waste--only in seven open defecation free panchayats in the district.
During the 2016 Rajasthan budget, chief minister Vasundhara Raje announced “Mukhyamantri Swachchh Gram Yojna” (MSGY) to ensure cleanliness in villages.
Following the announcement, in December 2016, the state rural development department issued guidelines to district authorities for implementing the scheme.
As part of the scheme, the state government directed the MGNREGA authorities in the districts to appoint two sweepers in each cluster--covering 150 households.
Apart from providing manpower for the cleanliness through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme, government also directed that dustbins
In her session, ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’ on Sunday, she narrated a story from Karadi Tales which is a series of popular audio books for children in India.
The stories were narrated through puppetry and symbols by her fingers. be installed for every 10 to 15 families and e-rickshaw to collect the garbage from the dustbins and transport it to the treatment plant for proper disposal of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste.
In Barmer, out of the total 489 panchayats, only 210 have been declared open defecation free, however, the scheme has been implemented only in seven panchayats.
Confirming the report ML Nehra, chief executive officer at Barmer zila parishad said: “The rural population in Barmer is concentrated in scattered hamlets due to which we are facing hurdles in implementing the scheme. We have implemented the scheme in seven panchayats and efforts are on to implement it in more panchayats.”
Barmer, the fifth largest district in the country.
It is spread across 28,387km and is sparsely populated with people living in far-flung hamlets.
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