Morung Express News
Mopungchuket | August 11
Celebration of ‘Freedom from Open Defecation Week’ was observed today at Mopungchuket village under Mokokchung district organized by the PHED Mokokchung under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) in partnership with the Village Education Committee, Mopungchuket.
A school children rally, painting competition, extempore speech competition and an exhibition and competition on recycled products were some of the main highlights of the day. About 200 school children in the village along with youth leaders, church workers and village council members assembled at the village Morung premises and rallied towards the village community hall. Pastor of Mopungchuket Baptist Church, Rev.Jongpong Jamir pronounced an invocation and flagged of the rally.
Painting competition on the day’s theme was held for primary school students while the extempore speech competition was held for high school students. Exhibition cum competition of recycled products was open for all. Top three winners as well as all the participants in all the competitions were awarded with cash prizes.
Addressing the gathering on the importance of “freedom from open defecation,” Er.Masachuba Ozukum, SDO PHED Mokokchung stated that Open Defecation Free movement was launched last year under Swachh Bharat Mission as a flagship programme by the Government of India and clarified that the department being the nodal agency has been conducting awareness campaigns all along. He, however, added that the initiatives taken by the department should be complimented by the active participation of the mass public to achieve the goals of Swachh Bharat. He also encouraged the villagers to promulgate the principle of “5Rs” – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Renew and Repair. He also encouraged the villagers to cultivate hygienic hand washing practices and installation of proper sanitary latrines.
While congratulating the villagers for being declared “open defecation free,” he also challenged the people of Mopungchuket to set bigger goals to become a “sanitation model village.”
Executive Engineer of PHED Mokokchung, Er.Yanger Pongen while sharing a “few words to the future of Nagaland” at the programme today also underscored the role of students in developing hygiene and sanitation and added that each student should be an ambassador of cleanliness and Swachh Bharat. Saying that SBM was an “inclusive movement,” he encouraged each individual to get involved in the movement. While applauding Mopungchuket for its cleanliness, he also encouraged the village to focus on the principle of 5Rs. As part of the celebration, the Executive Engineer also handed over 20 numbers of trash bins to the village.
Earlier, the village council chairman of Mopungchuket, Aosadang Lemtur while delivering his welcome address thanked the PHED for organizing the event in the village and appealed that more such events are organized in the village in the future too.
The “Freedom from Open Defecation Week” is being celebrated across the country under the directive of the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Government of India from August 9-15, 2017 as part of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin).
