Mysore, Apr 22: Hygiene and sanitation in the backward district of &13;Chamarajanagara in Karnataka will get a boost when lavatory facilities will be &13;provided to 1.37 lakh below poverty line (BPL) households under the Total &13;Sanitation Campaign project.
The main aim of the Centrally-sponsored project, expected to be completed by &13;2009, was to eliminate open defecation and impart lessons in hygiene. It &13;envisaged strong emphasis on information, education and communication to &13;increase people's awareness on sanitary practices, health issues and usage of &13;safe drinking water.
Chamarajanagara zilla panchayat would implement the project in all the 120 &13;gram panchayats in the district.
Chamarajanagara ZP sources told UNI that the project would be implemented &13;under the supervision of the ZP Chief Executive Officer.
The ZP Deputy Secretary would coordinate the programme, supported by project &13;consultants and district officers. Village Water and Sanitation Committees have &13;been made statutory bodies of the gram panchayats by amending the Panchayat &13;Act. It was proposed to form such committees in all the villages under the &13;community-based rural water supply and total sanitation campaign to facilitate &13;smooth and speedy implementation of the project and take responsibility for &13;operation and maintenance of water and sanitation facilities.
The sources said the project would also focus on self help groups to improve &13;the health and hygienic status of women in rural areas.
According to the 2001 census, the sanitation coverage was only seven per cent &13;in Karnataka, which had reportedly grown to 18 per cent in the last three &13;years.
The situation was rather critical in the district. Of the 2.02 lakh families &13;in the district, 1.73 lakhs were living in rural areas. Of the total 1.37 lakh &13;BPL households, only 27,547 had individual toilets and among the 35,297 APL &13;houses, only 6,500 had it, registering a total sanitation coverage of 19.67 per &13;cent.
&13;&13; The State police had recognised the grave threat posed by HIV, particularly in &13;Karnataka where over five lakh people were affected with AIDS. ''We are &13;concerned about the gravity and implications of the epidemic on our force and &13;their families and the communities within which we operate. Our aim is to &13;reduce the fear of HIV/AIDS and to make a contribution towards minimising the &13;social, economic and developmental consequences of the epidemic. The force &13;realises that it is more useful for us to consider how we can reduce new &13;infections within our force by engaging in HIV prevention activities more than &13;how to keep people affected with HIV/AIDS out of the workplace,'' according to &13;the policy.
The policy was a joint effort of NGOs and personnel putting their best efforts &13;to create awareness about the dreaded disease. The organisations involved were &13;NGO Constella Futures, Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society (KSAPS), &13;Karnataka Network of Positive People (KNP+) and Avahan India AIDS initiative of &13;Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Additional Director General and Inspector General (Prisons) S T Ramesh, the &13;main architect of the policy, said ''any act of discrimination or human rights &13;violation by the police personnel results in driving the epidemic underground, &13;thereby hindering the effective implementation of the HIV/AIDS programme of the &13;Government and NGOs.''
Welcoming the launch of the policy, KSAPS Project &13;Director Chakravarthi Mohan said ''the need of the hour is to get every &13;department, every workplace to recognise the potential devastation that AIDS &13;can cause in terms of human lives and make a common cause with KSAPS to halt &13;the epidemic and reverse it.''
Former National Human Rights Commission Director &13;General Shanker Sen said that ''as part of the uniformed services, we have the &13;responsibility to safeguard and protect society from all kinds of dangers and &13;hazards...launching the policy has reminded us that we are as vulnerable as the &13;rest of the society and need to join the mainstream in the fight against it.'' &13;According to official sources, neighbouring Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh were &13;also expected to follow suit by coming out with such a policy.
UNI
The main aim of the Centrally-sponsored project, expected to be completed by &13;2009, was to eliminate open defecation and impart lessons in hygiene. It &13;envisaged strong emphasis on information, education and communication to &13;increase people's awareness on sanitary practices, health issues and usage of &13;safe drinking water.
Chamarajanagara zilla panchayat would implement the project in all the 120 &13;gram panchayats in the district.
Chamarajanagara ZP sources told UNI that the project would be implemented &13;under the supervision of the ZP Chief Executive Officer.
The ZP Deputy Secretary would coordinate the programme, supported by project &13;consultants and district officers. Village Water and Sanitation Committees have &13;been made statutory bodies of the gram panchayats by amending the Panchayat &13;Act. It was proposed to form such committees in all the villages under the &13;community-based rural water supply and total sanitation campaign to facilitate &13;smooth and speedy implementation of the project and take responsibility for &13;operation and maintenance of water and sanitation facilities.
The sources said the project would also focus on self help groups to improve &13;the health and hygienic status of women in rural areas.
According to the 2001 census, the sanitation coverage was only seven per cent &13;in Karnataka, which had reportedly grown to 18 per cent in the last three &13;years.
The situation was rather critical in the district. Of the 2.02 lakh families &13;in the district, 1.73 lakhs were living in rural areas. Of the total 1.37 lakh &13;BPL households, only 27,547 had individual toilets and among the 35,297 APL &13;houses, only 6,500 had it, registering a total sanitation coverage of 19.67 per &13;cent.
&13;&13; The State police had recognised the grave threat posed by HIV, particularly in &13;Karnataka where over five lakh people were affected with AIDS. ''We are &13;concerned about the gravity and implications of the epidemic on our force and &13;their families and the communities within which we operate. Our aim is to &13;reduce the fear of HIV/AIDS and to make a contribution towards minimising the &13;social, economic and developmental consequences of the epidemic. The force &13;realises that it is more useful for us to consider how we can reduce new &13;infections within our force by engaging in HIV prevention activities more than &13;how to keep people affected with HIV/AIDS out of the workplace,'' according to &13;the policy.
The policy was a joint effort of NGOs and personnel putting their best efforts &13;to create awareness about the dreaded disease. The organisations involved were &13;NGO Constella Futures, Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society (KSAPS), &13;Karnataka Network of Positive People (KNP+) and Avahan India AIDS initiative of &13;Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Additional Director General and Inspector General (Prisons) S T Ramesh, the &13;main architect of the policy, said ''any act of discrimination or human rights &13;violation by the police personnel results in driving the epidemic underground, &13;thereby hindering the effective implementation of the HIV/AIDS programme of the &13;Government and NGOs.''
Welcoming the launch of the policy, KSAPS Project &13;Director Chakravarthi Mohan said ''the need of the hour is to get every &13;department, every workplace to recognise the potential devastation that AIDS &13;can cause in terms of human lives and make a common cause with KSAPS to halt &13;the epidemic and reverse it.''
Former National Human Rights Commission Director &13;General Shanker Sen said that ''as part of the uniformed services, we have the &13;responsibility to safeguard and protect society from all kinds of dangers and &13;hazards...launching the policy has reminded us that we are as vulnerable as the &13;rest of the society and need to join the mainstream in the fight against it.'' &13;According to official sources, neighbouring Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh were &13;also expected to follow suit by coming out with such a policy.
UNI
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