World Toilet Day 2018 marked with nationwide activities

CEO NITI Aayog, Mr. Amitabh Kant and Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Mr. Parameswaran Iyer emptied a toilet pit and then participated in a ‘Toilet Parliament’ organised in village Vajidpur of Firozabad. The village has attained ODF (open defecation free) status and is moving towards ODF plus activities.

During the Toilet Parliament, six resolutions were passed:  The community would sustain its ODF status and levy a fine on any open defecators; convert all single pit toilets to twin pit toilets; make a soakpit in all septic tanks; promote composting in each village for solid waste management; eliminate plastic usage; and use of organic fertilizers by all in the district.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Kant appreciated the noticeable achievements made under Swachh Bharat as also the increase in national rural sanitation coverage. He expressed his appreciation for the promotion of twin pit toilets which is a sustainable toilet model.  In addition, he underscored the importance of manure or Sona Khaad coming out from twin pit toilets which multiplies the productivity of farmland ten times. He would be happy to buy this khaad from any entrepreneur willing to sell it because of its high nutritional value, he said.

Mr. Kant also appreciated the concept of the Toilet Sansad.  Participating in the sansad, he said this is a unique initiative as it allows people a platform to discuss their issues related to sanitation and reach consensus for collective action.  He said this concept of Toilet Parliament should be scaled up as it reflects the value of involving people in decision making.

Offering his comments, Mr. Iyer congratulated the village and the district for achieving ODF status.  He said the six resolutions demonstrate the commitment of the village to sustain the ODF outcomes.

Swachhagrahis and members of Nigrani Samitis, etc were felicitated by Mr Kant and Mr Iyer for their exemplary contribution towards making the district ODF.  Several women from the village also spoke on the occasion and shared their and their village’s journey to becoming ODF.

World Toilet Day that was observed across the world on 19^th November was marked with mass awareness and mobilization across States and districts with a focus on usage of toilets.

The central part of the day’s celebrations was the Swachh Bharat World Toilet Day Contest 2018 in which all districts participated by organizing grassroots activities involving district, block and panchayat level teams, swachhagrahis and swachhata champions.  The objective was to engage with communities and reaffirm the national resolve to sustain the sanitation achievement. States and districts have been working on a competitive mode since 9th November with a range of innovative activities centred around toilets and swachhata creating unprecedented momentum in the country culminating with mega initiatives on WTD.

In recognition to the work done by the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Toilet Summit in Mumbai on 19^th November.