4 Villages In Kalahandi Celebrate Open Defecation Free Achievement

Bhawanipatna: As many as three villages of Batelima gram panchayat and one from Basantpara gram panchayat near Lanjigarh in Odisha’s Kalahandi district celebrated their Open Defecation Free (ODF) achievements on May 26, 2018.

On May 17, the ODF villages had staged a ‘Walk of Pride’, led by the village Nigrani Committee exhibiting their clean and faeces-free village.

Government officials, local NGOs and Vedanta CSR team were invited to be part of the celebrations. Each household has constructed a toilet in their residence on their own with great pride.

The locals have also set up a ‘Nigrani Committee’ to ensure zero open defecation and to penalise anyone violating the set norms. A fund has also being started by the villagers to build community toilets for visitors and guests of the village.

Lanjigarh MLA Balabhadra Majhi attended the event as chief guest while CFO, Vedanta Limited, Lanjigarh, Jalaj Malpani was the guest of honour.

Other distinguished guests included Project Director, District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) Prasanna Kumar Sarangi,  District Project Coordinator (DPC) Kalahandi, Tapan Behera, Lanjigarh block chairman Fakir Mohan Majhi,  vice chairperson Tulsi Nayak, sarpanchs from six gram panchayats and other officials were present.

The landmark achievement was etched on a board, jointly unveiled by the PD, DRDA, and CFO, Vedanta Limited. Vedanta Limited, Lanjigarh, as part of their community outreach efforts, supported these villages in collaboration with the district administration through an integrated development programme of the local communities.

With an intention to improve the quality of life of the villagers, Vedanta’s associate partner Feedback Foundation and the district administration provided technical assistance to the villages in their journey towards achieving the coveted ODF status.