New Delhi: During his “Mann Ki Baat” address on September 25th, 2016, the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, had made an appeal to the corporate world, to sponsor young professionals who would support district administrations across the country in the implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission. Responding to the Prime Minister’s appeal, the Tata Trusts, one of the country’s leading philanthropic organizations, in collaboration with the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation had offered to provide 600 Zila Swachh Bharat Preraks (ZSBPs), one in each district of the country, for a period of one year. The initiative was announced on December 15th, 2016, by the Union Minister, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar.
The training of the first batch of 50 of these young professionals began in the Capital today. Speaking to the zilapreraks, the Union Minister, Shri Tomar said that he was confident that the ZSBP initiative will be a game changer in achieving the goals of Swachh Bharat Mission in rural India. He said that it will empower the District Collector/CEO to be able to drive the Mission with more vigor and speed. He emphasized that, by taking up the role of zilapreraks, they have effectively undertaken a pledge – to lead the way to a Swachh Bharat by 2019, and to contribute their bit to help realize the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister. A big responsibility lies on their shoulders, he said, adding that he was sure they would prove worthy of it through their hard work and determination. The Minister particularly expressed his happiness that the first batch of zilapreraks being trained had a strong representation of women.
Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shri Parameswaran Iyer, also addressed the zilapreraks, and said that they will bring in freshness of thought and action to the Mission, and their role will be to better coordinate the behavior change activities at grassroots, ensure effective monitoring of the work being done and maintain the intensity at the district level.
The rigorous 3-day training programme that the zilapreraks will undergo includes special modules on Swachh Bharat Mission Guidelines, fund flow in SBM, MIS-based monitoring of SBM progress, Centre-State coordination, Technical Training in Sanitation, leadership and management training modules. The remaining zilapreraks will be brought on board over the course of the next 8 weeks.
