Visakhapatnam: Everybody should contribute at least an hour a day and use all the reso-urces available to ensure cleanliness in villages, said Panchayat Raj minister Ayyanna Patrudu.
He was speaking as the chief guest at the ‘Nirmal Gram Puraskar’ presentation programme for 2012-13, held at the Y.V.S. Murthy Auditorium at the Andhra University here on Saturday.
Mr Ayyanna said, “Des-pite the Union and state governments giving utm-ost importance to Swachh Bharat there are no toilets for 62 lakh people in the state, including 2,000 public representatives. About 70 per cent of the diseases are water borne. By maintaining cleanliness we can prevent it.”
He also added that by utilising NREGS funds the panchayats can build dumping yards in villages.
Ministers, including Ayyanna Patrudu, Ganta Srinivasa Rao and Kimidi Mrunalini felicitated the sarpanches of 27 villages from the 13 districts of AP, who were selected for the awards.
The ministers also app-reciated their efforts to keep their villages tidy. Cheques for Rs 1.2 crore, granted by the Centre, were handed over to the people’s representatives.
