Harda:
The 'Bhai Number One' competition and 'Operation Malyuddh' which were lauded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 'Mann Ki Baat' address received around 35 applications from people in Madhya Pradesh's Harda, the district collector said today.
The 'Bhai Number One' competition was launched to motivate brothers to gift clean toilets to their sisters on the occasion of Rakshabandhan festival.
Both Operation Malyuddh and Bhai Number One programmes were launched as part of the Swaccha Bharat Abhiyan.
"Brainchild of Harda Zila Panchayat's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shanmugha Priya Mishra, a 2010 batch IAS officer, the scheme Bhai Number One aimed at ending open defecation by encouraging brothers to gift a toilet on the occasion of Rakshabandhan has evoked huge response from the people," Harda District Collector, Rajnish Shrivastava told PTI.
"Under the scheme so far, we have got commitments from around 35 people who have filled up application forms and committed to gift a toilet to their sisters on the occasion of Rakshabandhan festival," the collector said.
"Besides, to motivate people, I, the Superintendent of Police and the CEO will also gift a toilet each to three women in the district," the collector said.
Mr Shrivastava also said that those who commit themselves to construct toilet for their sisters would be honoured later by the district administration.
The district panchayat also provides an assistance of Rs 15,000 to construct a toilet under the scheme, he said.
However, the collector said that many people were constructing toilets in their homes on their own.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shanmugha Priya Mishra said that the operation freed 69 villages out of a total 213 village panchayats of open defecation.
"We have set a target to rid the entire district of open defecation by December 2016," she said.
Under Operation Malyuddh, a team of women and children were deployed to to whistle at people to discourage them from practising open defecation.