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The model town for Swachh Bharat
He has officially been branded the ambassador for ‘Swachh Andhra Pradesh’ by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu after his remarkable feat in the Swachh Bharat initiative. Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker and Sattenapalli MLA Dr Kodela Siva Prasada Rao took upon himself an enormous responsibility of building more than 20,000 toilets
Sattenapalli in Guntur, the constituency of Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasad Rao, has created a record by constructing more than 20,000 toilets in a lightning span of three months. The constituency is on road to become the first open defecation-free Assembly constituency in the country
He has officially been branded the ambassador for ‘Swachh Andhra Pradesh’ by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu after his remarkable feat in the Swachh Bharat initiative. Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker and Sattenapalli MLA Dr Kodela Siva Prasada Rao took upon himself an enormous responsibility of building more than 20,000 toilets in his constituency in a span of three months, a feat which appeared an uphill and impossible task.
But the MLA, who is brimming with dynamism and a missionary zeal, achieved the feat through his sincere apolitical campaign for ‘Swachh Sattenapalli’. He merely focused on construction of toilets for more than 20,000 households, ensuring that more than a lakh men, women and children put an end to open defecation.
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Many frowned at Siva Prasada Rao when he took up the campaign. Everyone was skeptical whether the villagers would construct and use latrines, ditching a practice of open defecation, which has been on centuries. This age old practice is a paradox in villages where every home has a television, coolers, cell phones and motor vehicles, but do not have a latrine.
Dr Rao however ensured the construction of 20,000 toilets in a record span of three months between October and December. He was the brand ambassador to the programme of District Rural Development Agency, the project director of which is Prashanthi. She visited scores of villages, umpteen number of times, spreading the vision of the AP Assembly Speaker. The Speaker’s pet subject in every meeting was against open defecation and building of latrines for every household.
He also made the District Collector and the revenue machinery focus on this one-point agenda and literally inspired and instigated people to go on toilets. The achievement meant that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the toilets making a declaration ‘Mission Accomplished’ on December 24.
The chief minister, impressed with the mission, announced that Dr Rao would be the brand ambassador for ‘Swachh Andhra Pradesh’, particularly for the toilets campaign. An estimated 62 lakh households in the State do not have individual toilets. Naidu requested the Speaker to devote time for the campaign and be the brand ambassador for focusing on the mission when the Assembly was not in session.
Speaking to ‘Vijayawada Hans’, Dr Rao mentioned that people’s cooperation to his campaign paid rich dividends and today Sattenapalli stood as a model for all the 177 Assembly constituencies in the state. He said that he would soon embark on the mission for ‘Swachh Andhra Pradesh’ and bring the mission to its logical conclusion.
By:Ravi P Benjamin
