The Hindu : Kerala News : Pilikod panchayat scripts a success story

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 03, 2005

Kerala

Kerala - Others

Pilikod panchayat scripts a success story

By Our Staff Reporter

KASARAGOD, FEB. 2. Nirmal Gram Puraskar, an honour of the Central Government for excellence in implementing cleaning and other hygiene-oriented programmes, for the Pilikod panchayat in Kasaragod district has come as a recognition of the initiatives of this low-profile but proactive panchayat.

Pilikod was the only panchayat from the State to share the honour with 37 other grama panchayats in the country. The awards, carrying a memento, a citation and a cash prize of Rs.4 lakhs, will be presented at a function in New Delhi on February 24.

Recognition for efforts

The panchayat president, P.K. Lakshmi, says a comprehensive cleansing programme is being implemented in the panchayat since 1996. The programme, implemented in a time-bound manner and with the cooperation of the people, helped the panchayat achieve success in sanitation facilities.

With aid from the Central Government, the panchayat provided toilet facilities to all houses under its civic area. The panchayat, through a one-day comprehensive survey, identified the houses lacking proper toilet facilities. Within a year, toilets were provided to 2,020 houses. Now, all the 5,000-odd families in the panchayat have their own toilet facilities.

The State Government had earlier awarded the Swaraj Trophy, instituted by the Department for Local Self-Government for excellence in civic activities, to the panchayat in 1997-98. The panchayat had brought out a newspaper Gramapathram highlighting its achievements on the occasion.

The panchayat has also been lauded by the State Government for its initiatives in the campaign against plastic and for propagating scientific garbage disposal habits.

The health clubs constituted in the schools in the panchayat, the Kudumbasree units and local voluntary organisations in the panchayat have also contributed to the success of the panchayat, Ms. Lakshmi says. "The people deserve the recognition for their whole-hearted support to making our panchayat a clean and garbage-free zone," she says.

Through word of mouth

Apart from propaganda on a mass scale, the panchayat has been successful in spreading through word of mouth its message to its population of 23,338 (according to the 2001 Census).

The panchayat has a 16-member sanitation `samithi' to implement and monitor the various sanitation and related projects.

The panchayat also has an exclusive sanitation council for its main township, Kalikadavu town.

The panchayat has also been campaigning against the use of plastic. To begin their anti-plastic initiative, the panchayat has selected its 12th ward as the model ward.

The panchayat authorities depend on the members of the 124 Kudumbasree units for effective campaigning for a clean, green and plastic-free zone. The panchayat also campaigns in schools and anganwadis to give the younger generation an idea of its people-friendly goals.

A role model

The panchayat has been projected as a role model for good and effective sanitation works done by a civic body in the State. The Kerala Institute for Local Administration (KILA) has made a case study of the panchayat and has described it as a role model for sanitation in one of their publications a few years ago.

The comprehensive survey conducted by the panchayat prior to launching the sanitation programme and the step-by-step implementation of the project have been appreciated by KILA. Other works of the panchayat such as the watershed development programme and vegetable cultivation have also been acknowledged by KILA.

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Pilikod panchayat scripts a success story