Cleanliness a national priority: Raghubar Das

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said Jharkhand will become a 100 per cent open defecation free (ODF) state by October 2, 2018. He was speaking on the occasion of inauguration of Sanitation Cooperation Campaign organised under Clean India Mission (Rural) in project building.

He added that the day when the campaign of Clean India was started on October 2, 2014, Jharkhand’s progress of only 18 per cent in the field of cleanliness. But today the state has managed to achieve 77 per cent progress.

Das added that the state can achieve that 100 per cent with women’s power. He added that innovative campaigns launched by the state have special significance in this achievement. The chief minister said that people responsible for making blocks ODF should contribute in making state ODF.

He urged the people of the state to be responsible as a society about social cleanliness and public cleanliness. He said that to make cleanliness a national priority, there should be coordination between the government and the society. The importance of public cooperation is important. He said that cleanliness is a social movement. Regardless of ideological differences everyone should come together to clean state and make positive change.

Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Chandra Prakash Chaudhary said that the department will complete the goal by October 2. Efforts are being made to make villages of the state 100 per cent ODF. Secretary of Drinking Water and Sanitation Aradhana Patnaik said that cleanliness is synonym for positive change in thinking, behaviour and life. On this occasion, the 40 blocks which played a vital role in fulfilling the goal of cleanliness were specifically given information about the work plan under the workshop and their difficulties were resolved.