NEW DELHI-
Aiming to spread a message of sanitation and putting an end to the scourge of open defecation, India kick-started a three-day International Toilet Festival on the eve of World Toilet Day.
Along with students, the launching event, organised by Sulabh International at New Delhi’s Central Park, was attended delegates from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan; a group of liberated manual scavengers and about 100 widows from Vrindavan. The participants made a pledge of cleanliness.
Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of having a toilet built in every household by 2019, Sulabh International Founder Bindeshwar Pathak said that the country may finally get to realise Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of total sanitation.
“Narendra Modi is the first Prime Minister to have emphasised this much on the issue of sanitation. Even the developed countries have not emphasised as much,” he said. Lamenting the fact that previous governments did not adopt the “Sulabh model” he expressed hope that the Modi government will replicate it, which he claimed will help the government in achieving its objective of total sanitation.
“Our model has helped in putting an end to large scale open defecation in many areas apart from liberating many manual scavengers. The Alwar and Tonk model should be replicated all over the country,” he said.
As per Census 2011, over 67 per cent rural households of India do not have access to toilets leading to large scale open defecation.
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