Even as Bihar was officially declared an open defecation-free state a couple of years back, the behaviour of most rural people towards proper sanitation is yet to change. The has, consequently, decided to begin an awareness campaign after the ongoing panchayat Elections as part of which the villagers will be told about the advantages of using toilets and maintaining cleanliness.
State rural development departments principal secretary Arvind Kumar Chaudhary told this newspaper, As sufficient number of toilets have been made available in almost all the villages under the Lohiya Swachh Bihar Abhiyan launched by the government, concerted efforts are being made to ensure their use by the people. An intensive campaign in this regard will be launched in different parts of the state after the elections are over and new panchayat committees constituted, he said.
He further pointed out that the government organised weeklong awareness campaigns at the village level every month to motivate the people to use toilets. However, they were temporarily stopped due to the panchayat elections.