The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Vellore village hogs the limelight for hygiene

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Vellore village hogs the limelight for hygiene

By P.V.V. Murthi

VELLORE, FEB. 8. Litter-free roads, clean surroundings and a hygienic environment greeted this reporter when he visited the Kattuputhur village panchayat, 10 km from here today.

It is one of the 12 village panchayats in Tamil Nadu and 39 in the country have won the Nirmal Gram Puraskar Award (2003-2004) for promoting sanitation and hygiene given by the Union Ministry of Rural Development. Chandrika Viswanathan, president of the panchayat, who received the official communication today, said the achievement was possible with the total cooperation extended by the villagers in implementing government schemes such as the Central Rural Sanitation Project (CRSP), rainwater harvesting and total sanitation.

The man behind this successful woman is none other than her husband, K. Viswanathan. For nearly 30 years, he has been involved in the implementation of the adult education programme, "Arivoli Iyakkam" (literacy movement), the CRSP and the Water Supply and Sanitation (WATSAN) scheme of the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission at the district level. He is the district-level coordinator of "Namadhu Gramam" (Our Village) scheme of the State Government.

His wife getting elected panchayat president made things easy for Mr.Viswanathan, who campaigned for the construction of hygienic individual toilets by the residents, banning open defecation and use of plastics (any violation will attract a fine), and for proper disposal of garbage and the rainwater harvesting scheme.

Grama Sabhas conducted four times a year have been effectively utilised by the panchayat to convey the right message to the people.

Mrs.Viswanathan said she and her husband used the public address system to convey messages about government schemes. He cycled to the five villages in the panchayat daily and created awareness among the people using mikes, street plays, etc.

SHG lends a helping hand

The panchayat has been supported by the local women's self-help group. Its president, Manjula said the SHG made people dispose of plastics properly. Plastic paper is bought by the SHG from residents at Rs.6 a kg and given to the panchayat, which hands it over to the Highways Department for processing and use in road laying.

Communal amity

The panchayat president and her husband, belonging to the Adi Dravida community, get total cooperation from other castes. According to S. Padmavathi Raju, a resident, Mr.Viswanathan has been able to motivate the educated people who constitute a majority in the village. There is a serving military person, an ex-serviceman or a Central or State government employee in almost every family.

Mr.Viswanathan said all 631 families in the panchayat with a population of 2,783, have been covered by individual household toilets. Mrs.Viswanathan will receive the award from the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi on February 24.

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