Chandigarh (Haryana): Haryana has been awarded first place for having the most Open Defecation Free Plus (ODF) Villages under the Dirt Free India Campaign by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jalshakti, Government of India.
Apart from this, Haryana also secured the third position in the Clean Beautiful Community Toilet category.
The award was received virtually by Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala. Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Minister of State Ratanlal Kataria gave this award on behalf of the Union Ministry. Kataria praised the work being done by the Haryana government under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
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Haryana's Deputy CM thanked the Central Government for the award and said that the state government conducted a special cleanliness campaign in panchayats across the state under the dirt-free India campaign on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Haryana has been continuously working in this direction. 131 villages of the state have been declared ODF Plus, which is the highest from any other state. He said that for cleanliness, the government has also set up sanitation squads in rural areas which are making a special contribution to the cleanliness process in the village.
Dushyant Chautala also said that Haryana will be in the leading state of the country which will use plastic waste to make roads through the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana.
The government has already started the work for phase two, in which momentum is being given to the plastic collection.
