Bangalore, August 19: Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, Mangalore and Sullia Taluk Panchayats have been conferred with the Nirmal Gram Puraskar awards at Raj Bhavan, Bangalore on Saturday.
The awards were presented by Governor H R Bharadwaj to the presidents of ZP and TPs, for being completely free of defecation.
K T Shailaja Bhat, ZP President, Bhavya, President of Mangalore Taluk Panchayath received the award.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and Revenue K.S. Eshwarappa the subsidy amount for construction of individual household toilets has been increased from Rs. 3,700 to Rs. 9,200 from this financial year under the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) of the Centre.
He said of the Rs 9,200 subsidy, the Centre and State government would provide subsidy of Rs. 3,200 and Rs. 1,500, respectively, while the rest would be provided under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) by providing 26 days of manual labour.
The below poverty line (BPL) criteria has also been removed to utilise the subsidy. Nearly 90 per cent of the households in the State could avail themselves of the subsidy, the Minister said.
The available data showed that the State government had shown little commitment for implementation of the TSC which was launched on October 2, 2005. , an official in the RDPR said.
As many as 42,036 government schools and 28,207 anganawadi centres have been covered under the programme. The coverage was 100 per cent in 1,069 gram panchayats and six taluks, including Mangalore and Sullia, the Minister told mediapersons after reviewing the implementation of the scheme in the State.
To ensure full coverage of the scheme, the Centre has increased the subsidy under the programme and extended it for 10 more years (till 2022).
The RDPR Department has identified 103 gram panchayats and two taluk panchayats for 'Nirmal Gram Puraskar' award 2011 for achieving 100 per cent coverage. The awards would be presented at a function on Saturday.
Lack of awareness, scarcity of water and land for construction of toilets were major causes for slow pace of implementation of the scheme in the State, the Minister said.
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