CANACONA
Over a year after Gopal Parsekar, mission director of the Swachh Bharat Mission for Goa, had declared both North and South Districts, as well as each of the 12 talukas as Open Defecation Free (ODF), Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday admitted Goa was still not 100% free from open defecation.
Addressing a function in Canacona, Sawant said, “Though we had declared Goa has been free from open defecation, there are still instances of people defecating in the open, as few households still do not have toilets.”
“The Swayampurna Mitra visiting every village will identify these households and toilets will be provided to those households in the near future.”
He informed that the Swayampurna Mitra would also identify anomalies in villages. “We have BPL families living in bungalows and availing of all BPL benefits, while deserving BPL families have been denied these benefits.”
“We also have instances where mothers of government servants have BPL ration cards and they reap the benefits meant for needy citizens. These and many anomalies will be tackled during the survey undertaken by Swayampurna Mitra,” said Sawant.
