Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 10: An Orientation programme on Swachh Survekshan Grameen- 2023 initiative was today organized by Directorate of Rural Sanitation J&K here at Panchayat Bhawan Jammu.
Director Rural Sanitation J&K, Charandeep Singh chaired the orientation programme attended by Assistant Commissioner Panchayats, Assistant Commissioner Development, District Panchayat Officers, Block Development Officers of Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur, Reasi and Samba District.
The Programme was also attended by the officers of Directorate of Rural Sanitation J&K.
In the orientation programme, experts Ikshvaku Sharma and Vinay Tiwari from Government of India gave a detailed presentation on different stages of Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2023.
It was informed that Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2023 is an exercise for assessing the status of SBM Grameen in the rural areas. “It is aimed to gear wide participation of Gram Panchayats, Districts and States to create enthusiasm towards Sanitation,” they said.
The expert speakers further stated that SSG-2023 shall be done at Village level with the first phase being the self assessment by the village itself followed by review by the peer group and the final being the third party evaluation by an agency to be nominated by the Government of India.
Speaking on the issue, the Director Rural Sanitation urged upon all the officers to complete the process of self assessment of all the villages by 31st of December, 2022. He stated that self assessment would give impetus to the performance of UT of J&K which has already achieved the milestone of 1000 ODF Plus villages. He said that it was a great opportunity to deal with areas in which some of the Panchayats need to perform better. He further said that it would act as a means to increase the participation of locals which is the most integral aspect of making SBMG 2.0 a success.
Interacting with the participants, the Director Rural Sanitation J&K asked them to focus on sustaining the gains from the first phase of the project. He said that the assets should be developed in a methodical manner so that they not only work effectively but also sustain over the years to come. The works on sanitation which has now gained momentum in rural areas should continue with the same vigour to make all the villages visually clean in the years to come.
Another vital issue of retrofitting of toilets which is conversion of single pit toilets into twin pit toilets was also deliberated upon. It was emphasized that the technological gaps affecting toilet functionality and faecal sludge management was an important aspect of the Mission.
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