MANIPUR: CHIEF MINISTER N. BIREN SINGH APPEALS TO WORK WITH COMMITMENT AND DETERMINATION

Chief Minister Shri N. Biren Singh said to work with commitment and determination and also to achieve anything for the welfare of the State. This was stated by him at the ‘One Day Workshop on SBM(G) for attaining ODF in Manipur’ held at Sangai Hall, Imphal Hotel today. The workshop was organised by Public Health Engineering Department, Government of Manipur.

Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister appealed the capable and talented officers to leave aside the ego issues and cooperate, coordinate and to work collectively for the development in the State. He further advised the officers to work sincerely and honestly and to do away with contract oriented mindset. Contract oriented working style delays to accomplish various schemes and programmes in time. We need to prioritise our workload, he added.

Chief Minister said that under the ‘Go to Village’ mission, we would construct toilet and bathroom especially for women and girls in each and every village of the State. He asked the officials to work towards attaining Open Defecation Free in the entire State by 15th August of this year. A review meeting with all the officers from Chief Engineer to Section Officer would be held to work out the modalities to attain the ODF in the State in time, he added. He mentioned that a DPR for construction of Recycling Manufacturing Unit would be sent to Government of India soon.

Minister for PHE Shri L. Dikho said that we have seen a huge progress in SBM(G). However, we need to create sensitization programme and awareness campaign about SBM across the State, he added. Let us commit to make a Clean Manipur and to promote and preserve ecosystem, he added.

Secretary of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India Shri Parameswaran Iyer said that the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) is not just a toilet construction programme but to bring a behavioural change among the people of the country. He stated that we could see a great shift in the behavioural change in the entire country. The sanitation coverage for Rural India in 2014 was only 39 percent and it has been substantially increased to 83 percent now, he added.

He mentioned that according to a research conducted by Gates Foundation, diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery are very much lower in ODF villages. He appreciated the State Government’s recent initiative ‘Go to Village’ as it would help in the Swachh Bharat Mission (G). He said that around 40,000 dysfunctional toilets would be constructed in the State soon.

During the function, Secretary, PHE Government of Manipur Smt. Nidhi Kesarwani gave a detailed powerpoint presentation on Open Defecation Free Manipur: Roadmap and Challenges.

It may be mentioned that Senapati and Bishnupur Districts have been officially declared ODF district in the State.

Deputy Director General of Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Government of India Shri Hiranya Borah, Chief Engineer of PHE Shri H. Sunil Singh, Deputy Commissioners of various districts and others attended the function.