GUWAHATI, Sept 7 - Governor PB Acharya held a meeting with the corporate sector and industry senior executives on Swachh Bharat Mission at Raj Bhavan here today.
Inaugurating the meeting, the Governor recalled that on December 25, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi nominated a third group of nine members to form the National Committee on Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and he was also one of them.
The Governor also said that he was the only person to represent the North-east of India and, therefore, his responsibility was quite extensive. He then explained elaborately how SBM could change the face of the country in the coming years. Then he wanted to know about the progress made by the organisations present at the meeting, on the implementation of SBM in the State of Assam.
Representatives from the banking sector, corporation sector and PSUs introduced themselves and explained the progress made by their respective organisations in the field of public sanitation, toilet movement, adoption of villages and other CSR activities for strengthening the SBM, and also explained their future plan of action in this regard.
After hearing views of the participating members, the Governor said that SBM, Toilet Movement and Gaon Chalo � three initiatives of the Government of India � were going to bring revolutionary changes to the social life of the country.
And for the success of these programmes, he added, as responsible and resources people, �we all must involve ourselves in the process wholeheartedly and contribute maximally using our all available resources.�
The Governor expressed his displeasure over the ineffectiveness of various organisations in the field of SBM, Toilet Movement and other public welfare activities and suggested that all devote themselves passionately for the cause of making India a swachh, sashakt, samridh and nirogi country in the world.
After a detailed discussion on various aspects of Swachh Bharat Mission and Toilet Movement, the Governor laid down several principal directives to be followed by every organisation, which were endorsed by everyone present.
Under the guidelines, each organisation will submit a progress report on Swachh Bharat Mission and Toilet Movement along with supporting testimonies such as photographs/videos, etc., by September 8 to the Governor by email/hand.
Every organisation should try to construct maximum number of public toilets in the areas under their jurisdiction, while banks should construct at least one public toilet under every branch. Banks/PSUs/corporate houses should no more encourage construction of toilets in schools to prevent repetition of government schemes as the government has taken up the responsibility for the same and funds are now available with the government for construction of school toilets.
It was also stipulated that banks/PSUs/corporate houses should take up skill development schemes to train more and more people and make them employable in labour intensive sectors, while for skill development programmes, organisations should associate themselves with universities/colleges of the State by signing MoUs for selection of resource persons and providing skill development training to the selected people.
