Four State-Run Companies To Help Make Tripura Open Defecation Free State

Agartala: Four state-owned companies under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry will provide Rs. 80 crore to Tripura to make the north-eastern state Open Defecation Free (ODF) soon, a top Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) official said here on Wednesday. ONGC Executive Director Gautam Kumar Singha Roy after handing over a cheque of Rs. 20 crore to Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said that four companies under the Ministry would give Rs. 80 crore to Tripura to make the state ODF soon.

Besides ONGC, the other companies who would provide the financial assistance for the scheme are Indian Oil Corporation, Oil India Limited and Gas Authority of India Limited. The Chief Minister said for the state to achieve ODF status, a new scheme ‘Jibandhara State Water and Sanitation Mission’ (JSWSM) has been launched which would cover at least 3.50 lakh families.

Also Read: With 60.50 Lakh Toilets Built, Urban India Is Confident About Going ODF Before October 2019

Mr. Roy, who is also the head of the company’s Tripura asset, said that with Rs. 80 crore, 67,430 Individual Household Latrines (IHHLs) would be constructed in the state. He said that as part of the ONGC’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the government-owned company has decided to provide a total of Rs. 25 crore to the JSWSM. He added that a cheque of Rs. 20 crore was handed over to the Chief Minister on Wednesday and the remaining Rs. 5 crore would be given later.

ONGC’s CSR chief S.S.C Parthiban said that under the CSR programme, during fiscal 2017-18, the company spent Rs. 503 crore on various projects across the country, and for the current financial year 2018-19, Rs. 480 crore had been earmarked for CSR activities.

Executive Director Roy added that ONGC has already given financial support worth several crores to the state government for making Tripura an ODF state. He said,

To realise the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make the country ODF by October 2, 2019, ONGC has been extending its support.

Also Read: Rural Improvement But Urban Lag In Northeast’s Performance

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.