Team Herald
MARGAO: The District Level survey campaign called “Swachh Survekshah Grameen 2018” was launched on Friday at the Conference Hall of South Goa District Collectorate. The programme had around 180 participants which included BDOs, sarpanchs, panchayat members and secretaries.
South Goa Collector Dr Tariq Thomas, IAS, was the chief guest for the event.
The objective of the month-long campaign is to collect data and rank all Districts of India on the basis of quantitative and qualitative sanitation parameters.
The event started off with the playing of videos meant to educate and motivate the participants regarding the Swachh Bharat Mission. This was followed by the launch of the App. Sarpanches of Majorda, Collem and Aquem-Biaxo spoke at the event where they highlighted the achievements of the Directorate of Panchayat at the District level and that of their respective villages.
Some of the issues they raised were the lack of funds, slow progress of land acquisition and even lack of enforcement to manage garbage.
Aquem-Baixo Sarpanch Siddesh Bhagat also pointed out that TCP gives approvals for large housing project which don’t have garbage management plan and then the panchayats are blamed when garbage from these building get accumulated.
Director of Panchayats Ajit Panchwadkar gave a brief history of the Swachh Bharat Mission and stated that cleanliness and prevention of garbage starts with the individual. “99% of land belongs to you so you have to take responsibility and ownership, and keep it clean,” he said. He also appealed to government employees to treat their offices like their second homes and keep the offices and equipments clean.
South Goa Zilla Panchayat Chairperson Navnath Naik asked the people to stop being lazy in carrying cloth bags when going to the market. “We have to stop being lazy and carry our own bags,” he said.
Collector Tariq Thomas gave an example of a village in Kerala where the panchayat is very active in garbage management. “The funds, functions and functionaries in Kerala are much more compared to Goa due to the devolution of powers which is why it is a very good model,” he stated. He appreciated the change that is taking place in Goa in terms of cleanliness and assured his support and best wishes for the project.
