Speech by the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, at the Presentation of Nirmal Gram Puraskar Awards

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to be here in Pune amongst all of you on the occasion of the Nirmal Gram Puraskar award ceremony for the southern and western regions of the country.

I am happy to see the same enthusiasm here as was seen earlier both at Hissar and Guwahati where Puraskars were presented to Gram Panchayats of the two other zones. I am happy to know, that this year there were 30,000 applications and finally about eleven thousand Panchayat Raj Institutions won 'Nirmal Gram Puraskar'. The number of award winners has increased tremendously in the last three years which reflects that people have taken interest in participating in the countrywide sanitation movement. This is also an indication that the Total Sanitation Campaign has been accepted in the right spirit by the rural people in India and this programme has become a people's campaign. It enhances the quality of life.

I congratulate all of you for your efforts and commitment towards sanitation. Here, I would like to impress upon you that it is also necessary to keep the village clean all the times to come. Once a Nirmal Gram, has always to be a Nirmal Gram. That is your commitment when you accept this puraskar. I congratulate Sikkim for becoming a State with 100 percent sanitation facilities and I hope that other States will follow suit.

Sanitation is not a new concept to India. Since ancient times, importance was attached to cleanliness and, resultantly, there were evolved systems of sanitation and drainage. The Indus Valley Civilization is an example. Also the chapter on administration pronounced by Chanakya, in the "Arthashastra" during the 4th Century BC, contains details on maintaining hygiene and cleanliness. This message has been carried forward from century to century. In recent times, the example of Tukadoji Maharaj, a great saint of Maharashtra, is a shining example. He did pioneering work in village development. In his book 'Gramgita' while emphasizing the need for hygiene, he said,

Which means:-

"Every house in a village will have to be transformed to make the town or village hygienic, healthy and beautiful. This will require each and every member of a household to strive for highest moral values and righteousness."

Tukadoji Maharaj understood that to bring change, you have to start at the individual level and then only there can be change on a wider scale.

Clean surroundings are important for a healthy individual and, indeed, for the enhancement of social parameters of a society. Sanitation and good hygiene practices reflect the quality of life of the people. Consumption of unsafe drinking water, improper sanitation facilities and lack of personal and food hygiene are the root cause of many diseases like diarrhoea, polio and typhoid. Lack of sanitation in rural areas is one of the major causes of child and adult mortality and morbidity. I have been told that poor sanitation and diseases caused by it, results in an annual loss of around 180 million mandays and an economic loss of Rs.1,200 crore in India. The Total Sanitation Campaign would certainly help in reducing these losses and make people conscious about the benefits of cleanliness.

Inadequate sanitation lowers school enrolment, particularly the retention rate of girls in continuing with their high school education. Greater emphasis should be given for providing basic facilities to the girl child so that drop out cases can be minimized. Women have been prime movers and main contributors of the total sanitation campaign throughout the country. This is because proper sanitation gives women the opportunity to live with dignity and security. It is important that their continued involvement be encouraged to create a conducive atmosphere to build and use toilets. In fact, the sustained success of any programme depends on the full involvement and participation of all stakeholders.

If we see the examples of mass mobilization on the sanitation issue, the name of Gadge Maharaj comes to our mind. Gadge Maharaj led a social reform movement in the twentieth century in this region. He used to travel from one place to another carrying his trademark broom and he used to say that 'it is this broom which has made me Gadge Baba'. Whenever he entered a village, he instantly started cleaning the roads of the village and in his sermons he always spoke of the need for sanitation and cleanliness. We must learn from the teachings of Gadge Baba and follow his path, which can change our Nation and make this world a better place to live in. His vision of well-developed villages in India can be a source of inspiration for non-government organizations, which can play an important role in rural development as also in the sanitation campaign. They can be useful in making our villages ideal and self dependent. I urge that this campaign should also include other issues such as the management of solid and liquid wastes, so that environmental protection is achieved, and the community will be able to achieve the status of total sanitation. There have been recent examples of pioneering work being done by many organizations in this field, which can be useful models to follow.

Sulabh International led by Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak has done a great service to society by providing thousands of public toilets-cum-bath complexes. Simultaneously, Sulabh has also undertaken education and skill development programmes, thereby equipping people to earn a gainful livelihood.

I am sure that the award winning Gram Panchayat Sarpanchas will encourage other Sarpanchas and they in turn would work as motivators, facilitators for the community. I would call upon all the Sarpanchas and Pradhans to take keen interest in making their village 'Nirmal Gram' which will ultimately lead India to become 'Swachh Aur Nirmal Bharat'.

The world has recognized the need for sanitation facilities for a healthy life. It has made basic sanitation a Millennium Development Goal and a part of the global effort to eradicate poverty and promote the well being of all people. The Year 2008, has been declared as the International Year of Sanitation, with the goal to raise awareness and to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goal target to reduce by half the proportion of the 2.6 billion people without access to basic sanitation by 2015. I am happy to know that India has aimed to achieve this target by 2012 by launching the Total Sanitation Campaign. Our achievement of this goal will demonstrate the ability and the capacity of India to meet the basic needs of its people.

In this direction, the Government of Maharashtra has decided to implement the Nirmal Maharashtra - Sajal Mahrashtra Campaign, so as to provide safe drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities to the people of the state. The lighting of the Nirmal Maharashtra - Sajal Maharashtra Jyot today, will carry the message of cleanliness and safe drinking water in each village of the state. We will have to ensure people's participation so as to make it a people's movement.

The nation has been a target of terrorist attacks. The incident in Mumbai was designed to wreak havoc and derail us from the path of progress. There are no words strong enough to condemn those who have targeted innocent people. Terrorism and communal hatred are the enemies of development, stability and a peaceful society. In this hour we should remain united and support stern actions and measures to fight against the threats of terrorism.

I would conclude by congratulating the Ministry of Rural Development for their efforts and specially Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh for his dedication and his dynamic leadership to the campaign. I also heartily congratulate all those who have received the Nirmal Gram Puraskar.

Thank You.

Jai Hind.