Source : The Hindu Date : 20.06.2009

36 panchayats in Madurai district get awards

Staff Reporter

MADURAI: ‘Nirmal Gram Puraskar’ awards were given to 36 panchayats in the district under the Total Sanitation Campaign here on Wednesday. District Collector N. Mathivanan gave away the awards and said that improving the sanitary conditions in the village stands as the basis for the development of the village. Madurai has 431 panchayats; out of which 36 panchayats have maintained sanitation and hygiene to be qualified to receive the awards. He said that the remaining villages should also strive to make their villages clean to receive awards.

The Total Sanitation Campaign, a flagship programme launched by the Centre, Nirmal Gram Puraskar is given to each such panchayat which gets individual toilets constructed in all houses, ensures 100 per cent sanitation in schools and anganwadis, promoting vermi-compost, and rids the village of the despicable practice of open defecation, dry latrines and manual scavenging.

Government has been taking necessary steps to build individual toilets and public toilets.