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Bid to improve rural sanitation in Himachal

Staff Correspondent

High-profile workshop is being organised

SHIMLA: To break the cycle of disease transmission across villages in the hill areas the rural folk are required to be made aware of improved hygiene practices and use of sanitary toilets, said Rajwant Sandhu, State Principal Secretary for Rural Development, while inaugurating a two-day workshop on scaling up rural sanitation in Himachal.

The high-profile workshop is being organised by the State Department of Rural Development and the World Bank-sponsored Water and Sanitation Programme for South Asia.

Only around 30 per cent of the population in the hill State at present has some basic toilet and sanitary facilities.

The Government is taking a big help from NGOs for creating awareness about adopting improved sanitation behaviour.

Ms. Sandhu said that through the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach, Himachal Pradesh had succeeded in creating Open Defecation Free Communities across various districts of the State. The State has nominated about 33 gram panchayats for Nirmal Gram Purasakar 2006-07, compared to none last year, she added.

She said recent studies of State wide sectors assessments in India shows that most people continue to defecate in the open not due to lack of access to toilets but primarily because they see no reason to change their behaviour as awareness of associated health risks is limited or ignored.

Activists of Himachal Gyan Vigyan Samiti who are spearheading the campaign against open defecation by moving various "Kala Jathas" all over the State emphasised the need for better co-ordination among the government, implementing agencies and the grassroots NGOs.

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Bid to improve rural sanitation in Himachal

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