Union Minister released 'Swachhata Chronicles: Transformative Tales from India'

Tags: Government Schemes

Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat released 'Swachhata Chronicles: Transformative Tales from India', a compendium of 75 ODF Plus best practices to promote innovation and cross learning, during the National Convention of Rural Wash Partners Forum (RWPF).

An Overview of the News

• The anthology, titled "Swachhta Chronicles: Transformative Tales from India", showcases innovative approaches, measures to overcome bottlenecks, awareness raising efforts and special campaigns implemented by various States/UTs to achieve the targets of SBM-G Phase-II.

• The Union Minister emphasised the importance of the compendium as a resource for the States and stakeholders working towards achieving ODF Plus. They believe that this serves as an inspiration for others to replicate successful practices.

• This collection was developed by the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin IEC team and contains stories for each thematic pillar of SBMG Phase-II.

The stories in the anthology have been selected based on the following key criteria:

• Innovation: Demonstrating innovative approaches used to achieve ODF Plus, such as community participation and leadership that ensured ODF Plus Model Village status for Suanlo village in Bhingarpur Gram Panchayat, Khordha District, Odisha, or how live models of ODF Plus assets (to effectively manage solid and liquid waste) helped Shravasti district in Uttar Pradesh achieve ODF Plus status.

• Overcoming Obstacles: Highlighting the challenges faced and how they were overcome, such as Tamil Nadu's innovative mass cleaning initiative in Madurai's suburban panchayats.

• Raising Awareness: Describing measures taken to raise awareness about cleanliness, such as the "Wash Vani" magazine promoting positive WASH behaviour by children in government schools in Fatehpur district, Uttar Pradesh.

• Special campaigns: Discussion on special campaigns launched to achieve ODF Plus, such as Gujarat's "Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar (Clean Coast, Safe Sea)" campaign, which focuses on regular beach cleaning to protect the environment.