To create awareness regarding sanitation issues, Haryana government has decided to arrange special screening of recently released Bollywood film Toilet Ek Prem Katha for its Sarpanches (elected village heads ) of all Gram Panchayats in the state.

An official communication in this regard has been issued by the state’s Development and Panchayats Department to all the District Development and Panchayat Officers (DDPOs). According to the Department, all the DDPOs have been asked to arrange special screening inviting all the Sarpanches and officials from district administration including the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and Additional DCs for the screening to the film that has focused on improving of the sanitation conditions, with an emphasis on the eradication of open defecation, especially in rural areas.

Haryana Development and Panchayats Minister OP Dhankar told The Statesman that as the state government has already declared its rural area open defecation free (ODP), the decision has been taken to further sensitize the representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) towards cleanliness.

“Tough, we have declared the rural Haryana as ODF free but it needs maintenance of the status and for that kind of sustainability, people need to be aware continuously times and again. Hence the it has been planned that special screening of the movie would be organised for the Panchayat’s heads,” he added.

The minister further stated that he himself had watched the movie that has raised a numbers of useful issues promoting cleanliness and it would also inspire the rural governance to towards the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
Interestingly, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also praised the trailer of the film Toilet Ek Prem Katha starring actor Akshay Kumar.

Last month, the Haryana government has declared all the rural areas in the state ODF.

According to official information, all Gram Panchayats in the state have been declared ODF while an ODF+ campaign has also been prepared for sustenance of the ODF status through effective solid and liquid waste disposal management.

Haryana has become the fourth state after Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Kerala, to declare all the rural areas as ODF.

As per a survey conducted in 2012, of the total 30.24 lakh rural households in the state, 7.3 lakh households were without toilets. However, later on, more than 7.51 lakh toilets were constructed and 100 per cent coverage of toilets in rural areas was been achieved.