The Telangana state has emerged as the first state in the country in terms of Open Defecation Free (ODF) plus.
This was declared by the union Panchayat Raj secretary Sunil Kumar, Central water and sanitation secretary PV Mahajan and other officials.
They lauded the efforts of Telangana government in turning all the villages into ODF plus and urged other states to follow the model.
Meanwhile the Gujarat represented by Mr Modi only achieved 19 percent while BJP ruled Uttar Pradesh a mere five percent.
The northern states failed to compete with the southern states.
After Telangana, Tamilnadu stood second with 92 percent and Puducherry 61 percent.
This was made possible with special focus by chief minister Mr KCR to transform the villages completely. He ensured that people used the toilets, prevented drains flowing onto roads, improved sanitation, set up dumping yards, nurseries, and allocated tractors to each village among others. The massive plantation drive ensured the villages turned green and more aesthetic now.
The Telangana government’s panchayat raj and other departments have received many prestigious awards in the past in several categories.
Following the achievement of Telangana government, a group of officials from Jammu are evincing interest to visit the state soon to study the success of the programme. Soon they would be visiting Telangana.
By Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao