Chhattisgarh to becomeOpen Defecation Free in 2018

While the Swachh Bharat target for the country is October 2019, the State of Chhattisgarh will become Open Defecation Free (ODF) by the end of 2018 itself. 
•    This was announced by the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Dr Raman Singh in Raipur. 
•    He was speaking at a 2-day Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) National Conclave organized by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in Raipur for District Collectors and officers from the Phase 1 focus districts for SBM.
•    The Chief Minister went on to stress the importance of involving women and children as the ambassadors for SBM, adding that girls in Chhattisgarh have started keeping the presence of a toilet as a pre-condition for marriage into a family. 
•    On its part, the Government of Chhattisgarh has decided to give preference to its ODF blocks in schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) for distribution of LPG connections, he added, to incentivize more blocks and districts to achieve ODF status.
•    One of the highlighted activities undertaken during the workshop was a #MySBMidea contest. 
•    Districts shared best practices and innovative ideas deployed by them in sanitation, and the best idea was selected by means of a Twitter contest using the hashtag #MySBMidea. 
•    The workshop was a highly interactive exercise, with extensive sharing of ideas and best practices. 
•    In particular, several districts of Chhattisgarh made presentations to share their behavior change innovations in general and the community incentive approach adopted in the State in particular.