Gadwal gears up to be ODF district

​Gadwal: The district administration of Jogulamba Gadwal, which is unhappy over the low rate of construction of individual household latrines (IHHLs) in the district, has now decided to collaborate with ‘Change at all Next Education’ to spread awareness on the need for the IHHLs among the rural people. 

Gadwal district is ranked at the bottom in the country in the construction of IHHLs. In view of this, District Collector Rajat Kumar Saini is determined to change this and wants the district to forge ahead in the construction of IHHLs in the State compared to other districts. 

The Collector held a review meeting with the District Rural Development Authority Project Director Ananth Reddy, District education officer Venugopal and stressed on the need for creating awareness among the people regarding the importance of construction of IHHLs. 

To this effect, the Collector directed the authorities of Change at All Next Education to undertake the responsibility of creating awareness among people. Innovative ways should be explored to impress upon the people the need to have f IHHL. “As part of  comprehensive awareness programme, focus is put on the young children and for grabbing their attention we are planning to conduct essay writing competition, art competitions among them. 

The best essay and artistic pictures will be later scanned and will be displayed in the form of flexies in the rural villages and at places of  importance,” said Rajat Kumar saini. 

Further, the district administration along with the NGO authorities are also planning to create wide publicity through local cable channels on the importance of IHHLS and explain the disadvantages of not IHHLs. “We are also planning a detailed documentary on disadvantages of not having IHHLs and how open defecation creates healthcare problems to the people,” added the Collector.

A wall poster titled ‘Swatch Gadwal and Swasth Gadwal’ was also released by the Collector. Ajit, coordinator of Change-at-all Next Education, Harsha SBM District coordinator and other district officials took part in the meeting on Tuesday.