President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, during her first visit to the State where she laid the foundation of a medical college at Tezpur and gave away the Nirmal Gram Puraskar awards to Gaon Panchayats, has underlined the importance of health, hygiene and sanitation in a modern, progressive nation. People’s lack of access to quality health care facilities coupled with the abysmal sanitation standards has been a bane on the country’s development. This presents a situation of contrast, as India’s growing economy and the strides it has made on many fronts have not been able to address some of the basic needs of a vast segment of the populace. It is because of such constraints that the avowed objective of inclusive growth is far from a reality even today. Sanitation and health care standards are critical indicators reflecting the quality of life of the people. Good health of the citizens is central to human resource development, which in turn, acts as a catalyst for overall progress of a nation. Consumption of unsafe drinking water, lack of sanitation and personal hygiene have been among the major causes of disease in the country, leading to high child and adult mortality rates. Rural areas, in particular, are extremely vulnerable to such deficiencies.
The Total Sanitation Campaign, where Gaon Panchayats play a pivotal role in bringing the desired level of sanitation in the villages, has certainly made some progress. From 40-odd awards in 2003 to over 11,000 awards given to deserving Panchayats this year, it has been a positive development. However, a lot still remains to be done, and to make it truly a people’s movement and carry forward the sanitation agenda to its logical conclusion, the stress should be more and more on mass awareness and capacity building of stakeholders, especially the Panchayat institutions. Also imperative for the success of such campaigns is to have technology options that meet user preference and affordability. Greater involvement of schoolchildren and women would give a further boost to the initiative. The President has rightly called for making our villages self-sufficient in every aspect, as sustainable all-round development of villages holds the key to ensuring inclusive growth. In recent years, lots of funds are being pumped into rural development but the end result, especially in Assam, has not been commensurate with this liberal spending. Unless the schemes and projects aimed at poverty alleviation and rural development are implemented sincerely and leaving little scope for corruption, improving the quality of life of a majority of the people would remain an insurmountable proposition. source: assam tribune
The Total Sanitation Campaign, where Gaon Panchayats play a pivotal role in bringing the desired level of sanitation in the villages, has certainly made some progress. From 40-odd awards in 2003 to over 11,000 awards given to deserving Panchayats this year, it has been a positive development. However, a lot still remains to be done, and to make it truly a people’s movement and carry forward the sanitation agenda to its logical conclusion, the stress should be more and more on mass awareness and capacity building of stakeholders, especially the Panchayat institutions. Also imperative for the success of such campaigns is to have technology options that meet user preference and affordability. Greater involvement of schoolchildren and women would give a further boost to the initiative. The President has rightly called for making our villages self-sufficient in every aspect, as sustainable all-round development of villages holds the key to ensuring inclusive growth. In recent years, lots of funds are being pumped into rural development but the end result, especially in Assam, has not been commensurate with this liberal spending. Unless the schemes and projects aimed at poverty alleviation and rural development are implemented sincerely and leaving little scope for corruption, improving the quality of life of a majority of the people would remain an insurmountable proposition. source: assam tribune
No comments:
Post a Comment