Mysuru: While Mysuru city has been declared the first city in the country to be rid of open defecation , the district stands 17th place in the state in cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation. By December last year, only two of the 90 gram panchayats in the district scored hundred per cent on this count.Though the district is represented by chief minister Siddaramaiah and neighouring districts likes Mandya, Kolar, Dakshina Kannada and Chikkamagaluru have achieved huge success in making the district free of open defecation, Mysuru district has shown little drive in the programme under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.Mysuru zilla panchayat statistics reveal that of the 90 gram panchayats and 795 villages in seven taluks in the district which have come under the cleanliness mission, only two GPs and 137 villages achieved 100 per cent success.Interestingly, the two gram panchayats are in K R Nagar and Periyapatna taluks. The worst performer is Hunsur taluk where of 435 villages, only 38 villages are open-defecation free and in Mysuru taluk where of 300 villages, just 28 have reached that target.ZP social justice standing committee chairman Beerihundi Basavanna said panchayat development officers and executive officers have to work hard to make the programme a success. "In my constituency, there's been a success rate of 80 per cent in Mattikyathanahalli, 50 per cent in Beerihundi and Gopalapura and other villages. There are enough grants for the programmes, but it will be successful when officials work towards achieving the target," he said.When contacted, ZP Chief Executive Officer P Shivashankar said that the ZP plans to rope in religious leaders to create awareness about the programme."There is a cultural problem in making the programme a success. We plan to involve religious leaders and politicians in spreading awareness about the programme."There is also a finance crunch. The Centre has agreed to provide Rs 417 lakh but released only Rs 250 lakh. "We have diverted funds from the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) given to Self-Help Groups (SHG) block committees towards the construction of toilets as internal lending funds. When the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan funds are released, the amount will be repaid to the accounts," he said. CEO Shivashankar said the ZP has set a target to make all Hunsur taluks 100 cent open defecation free by March-end."We have intensified the programme in Periyapatna taluk, but as there is a shortage of officers, we're concentrating on Hunsur taluk. We have also decided to rope in private companies to fund this programme under their CSR activities for APL families to construct toilets," he said.

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