Mangaluru: The Dakshina Kannada district , considered as an education hub and has the highest rate of literacy in the state, has shown tremendous interest in the ‘Swachh Sundar Shauchalaya’ (Clean beautiful toilet) contest, a national level campaign to mobilise rural households to beautify their toilets Though the contest was only for individual toilets in homes, the people of Dakshina Kannada have gone the extra mile by painting toilets in homes, schools, colleges, panchayats and public toilets among others. The month-long contest which commenced on January 1, 2019, ended recently.Dr Selvamani R, chief executive officer of the Dakshina Kannada zilla panchayat, explaining about the contest, said it was held across the nation to create awareness on cleanliness and sanitation. This initiative was taken by the drinking water and sanitation department to mobilise households and gram panchayats to paint their toilets for promoting sustained use, increase the sense of ownership, and to improve the visibility of toilets in rural areas.“Dakshina Kannada district has been in the top slot in the state for quality painting and messages painted in toilets. They have also painted toilets of schools, colleges and panchayats, while the contest was limited only to households and panchayat toilets,” he said.Selvamani said every house in the district has toilets attached to their homes, while it’s not the same in other parts of Karnataka, where they are situated outside houses.Each wall painting has a social message conveyed. Selvamani said the paintings depict different aspects of sanitation, toilet etiquette, local arts, washing of hands, urging people not to defecate or urinate in open places, murals and pertaining to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and many more.Once the painting is over, participants can share pictures of their beautified toilets on social media or on the Swachh bharat website with the hashtag #MyIzzatGhar. “Once the pictures are shared, the district administration will choose the five best pictures from Dakshina Kannada and send it for the contest. It was uploaded on Friday,” added Selvamani.A tweet from @swachhbharat read: “This January, showcase your creativity while spreading the message of #Swachhata. Decorate your #toilets and stand a chance to win the Swachh Sundar Shauchalaya contest. Share your images with us using #MyIzzatGhar”

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