Chhatrapur: The Ganjam district administration received a shot in the arm in its bid to achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF) status. District collector Prem Chandra Chaudhary Thursday proudly declared Goba village under Badamadhpur panchayat of Chhatrapur block Open Defecation Free. On the occasion, the Water and Sanitation Mission held a meeting in the village with the district collector as the chief guest.
Chaudhary appreciated the efforts of the villagers and schoolchildren who took the initiative to ensure that toilets were built at every house in the village. Chaudhary promised the construction of a water supply project in the village.
The meeting was attended by local sarpanch S. Kishore Reddy, district education officer Sanatan Panda, BDO Rajnikant Swain, executive engineers Bijay Patra and Basant Nayak, former block chairperson Bhagban Behera, village committee president Mochiram Sahu and block RWS engineer Sasank Shekhar Padhi.
In a bid to spread awareness among the masses, the district had adopted a new form of roll call in schools to create a sense of hygiene among students and their families. The students were asked to respond with either ‘have toilet at home’ or ‘don’t have toilet at home’ instead of the usual ‘present sir/madam’ during roll call.
Despite not achieving a 100 pc success rate, the initiative has helped ensure the construction of a large number of toilets.
Students in all schools were told to persuade their parents to construct toilets at their homes. Students also reminisced on their efforts in achieving the feat.
Sonali Nayak (Class VI student) said, “There were no toilets in the village. I threatened to remain without food and not go to school till a toilet was built at my home. Similarly, my classmates also persuaded their parents like me. Our efforts have become fruitful and we are happy.”
Another student said he was happy that he no longer had to go out of his home to attend nature’s call. “We had to go to the riverside for relieving ourselves due to lack of toilets. This led to spread of many diseases. I stood up to my father and remained adamant on my demand for construction of a toilet,” said Alok Kumar Behera, a Class V student.
A headmaster of one of the schools in the village said the village has come a long way. “Almost every house in the village now has a toilet. It is the responsibility of every family to use it properly and spread the scheme across neighbouring villages,” said Prakash Chandra Karji.
Chaudhary applauded the efforts of all and awarded the village committee and local school headmasters for achieving the feat. Among the award winners were 21 schools. PNN
