The district Magistrate of Nadia along with chief of Nadia Zilla Parishad in West Bengal was on Saturday presented the United Nations Public Services Award 2015 for eliminating open defecation in the district.

Nadia district, located in south Bengal, had half of its population defecating in open till October 2013. The district administration, under a programme called Sabar Souchagar, built 3.56 lakh toilets in the district. As a result, the number of people continuing with the practice dropped to mere 0.2 per cent.

The award was presented by the acting Secretary-General of the U.N., Lenni Montiel, along with Head U.N. Women Stefani Senese, on conclusion of the U.N. Day celebrations 2015, on June 26 at Medellin in Colombia, District Magistrate P.B. Salim informed The Hindu over email.

Banikumar Roy, chief, Nadia ZP, was also present.

‘Unique model’
The U.N. has described Sabar Shouchagar (Toilets for All) as a “unique model developed to generate awareness, improve access to sanitary toilets, and bring substantial health improvement through improved sanitation.”

The U.N. added that the scheme has mobilised all stakeholders, “especially women and schoolchildren and saw involvement of faith-based organisations” and “if replicated, it has the potential to eliminate open defecation from across the world.”

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on April 30 held a programme in Nadia district highlighting the success of the scheme and announced that ‘Nirmal Bangla Divas’ will be observed across the State every year.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by Special Correspondent / Kolkata – June 28th, 2015