The Apex Committee of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) met today under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Shri Vikassheel at the Mantralaya Mahanadi Bhawan. The meeting included extensive discussions on the activities of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural), the physical and financial progress for the financial year 2025-26, the action plan for the financial year 2026-27, innovations for cleanliness, and inter-departmental convergence for the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural). Officials were asked to ensure concrete action for compost pits, soak pits, and plastic waste management in villages as part of the waste management infrastructure. The Chief Secretary directed officials to ensure that village sanitation work under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) should be certified by the Gram Sabha.
The Chief Secretary has directed the departmental officers to regularly monitor the cleanliness work in all the villages of the state under the Swachh Bharat Mission. Necessary guidelines were given regarding the use and cleanliness of community toilets in the village markets. Similarly, instructions were also given to ensure the use and maintenance of community toilets as per the requirement. Officials informed that around 14,279 community toilets have been constructed at community places in rural areas. Similarly, a target has been set to construct 2014 community toilets in the year 2026-27. In the meeting, extensive discussions were held regarding the formulation of the necessary action plan for the smooth operation of plastic waste management.
The Chief Secretary called for adopting successful plastic waste management models from other states. Officials stated that Chhattisgarh is undertaking innovative and sustained initiatives to build strong roads using plastic waste. Plastic-mixed asphalt roads are being constructed in Bastar, Mahasamund, Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur, and the state. Over 3,000 kilograms of plastic has been used in the road construction. The Swachh Panchayat Portal has been launched to monitor and evaluate sanitation, water management, and administrative systems at the village panchayat level. Village sarpanches are submitting information about village sanitation, water supply, and administration online. All villages will be ranked at the block, district, and state levels. A schedule for online entry of all villages has been established for this purpose.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary of Panchayat and Rural Development Department, Mrs. Niharika Barik Singh, Secretary of Health Department, Mr. Amit Kataria, Mission Director State Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural), Mr. Ashwani Dewangan, along with officials of School Education, Finance, Public Relations, Housing and Environment, Public Health Engineering, Women and Child Development, Rural Mechanical Services, UNICEF and other departmental officers.