West Bengal made highest progress in building toilets, says Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: With Nadia district becoming free from open defecation, West Bengal has registered the highest progress in the country by constructing 8.47 lakh new household toilets in 2014-15, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said. “Nadia is now Open Defecation Free, the first in the country in the last two years,” the chief minister announced on Facebook. [caption id=“attachment_2209784” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Mamata Banerjee in a file photo. PTI[/caption] She said that among the top four districts in the country in terms of construction of individual toilets, Nadia is at the top followed by Hooghly and Burdwan. “The state has registered the highest progress in the country with 8.47 lakh new household toilets in 2014-15. In record time, Nadia district could reach out to all the households and construct more than 3.47 lakh toilets to ensure that everyone in the district has got access to sanitation,” she said. Banerjee said the central government is doing wide publicity for its ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ but West Bengal has been working silently for ‘Mission Nirmal Bangla’ and making it a true success. “This is result of good governance, implementation and monitoring,” the CM said. Under the ‘Sobar Souchagar’ (Toilets for all) scheme led by the district magistrate Dr P B Salim, the authorities have not only constructed toilets but have also been running a continuous behavioural change campaign for those used to attend nature’s call in the open. After extensive field studies, the open-defecation free status of the district has been validated by UNICEF and Pratichi Trust. PTI