By IANS,
Ahmedabad : For Dahiben Chauhan, head of a village in Ahmedabad district of Gujarat, it was a moment of glory. Her village council was one among the 29 panchayats to bag the Nirmal Gram award for total sanitation.
“We could secure the remarkable success because of the commitment and cooperation of all citizens,” said Dahiben, sarpanch of Girmatha panchayat of Daskroi taluka in the district.
The tireless hard work of the district administration has also paid off with 29 village panchayats of Ahmedabad district being declared Nirmal Gram panchayats.
All the 29 village heads would receive the award, including the 10 women sarpanchs, from President Pratibha Patil at Hissar, in Haryana. The date of the function will be announced soon.
A seminar was organised for all the leaders of the district and taluka (sub-district) panchayats and legislators to evolve a strategy in making the villages “nirmal”, said assistant programme officer of District Rural Development Agencies (DRDA) T.N. Vyas.
Officials of the DRDA visited the villages to motivate and encourage the cleanliness drives. For building a personal toilet, a Below Poverty Line family was given Rs.1,200, whereas an Above Poverty Line family was given Rs.750.
Among the village council heads to have won the award are Laxmiben Jograna of Ganesar, Manishaben Dabhi of Javaraj, Bhavanaben Bhoi of Huka, Arvindaben Patel of Jetalpur and Gitaben Solanki of Rojid.