Manipur state recorded poorest performer of total sanitation campaign
Imphal, August 30 2010: The Communication and Capacity Development Unit (CCDU) Manipur, which has been singled out as the poorest performer among the states of the country in implementing "Total Sanitation Campaign", one of the flagship programmes of the Centre, is being run single handedly by a director.
The CCD Unit set up five years back in 2005 with the sole purpose of implementing the "Total Sanitation Programme", a flagship programme of the Union government.
Manipur was singled out as the poorest performer of the total Sanitation Campaign among the other states of the country with only 9000 individual household latrines (IHHL) completed out of six lakh targeted under the scheme till the end of fiscal year 2009-10, an official source said.
Observing the poor performance, the state was motivated by Plan Approval Committee (PAC) of the Department of Drinking Water Supply of Union Ministry of Rural Development by suggesting exposure visits of its officials to West Bengal and Sikkim where the scheme were successfully implemented.
The state Community and Capacity Development (CCDU) unit, which was set up under the aegis of the Department of Drinking Water Supply, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, has been in operation since 2005 in the state.
It has been set up for the purpose of implementing the "Total Sanitation programme" in the state.
The importance of this programme cannot be overlooked as it is one of the flagship programme of the Union government.
The staffing pattern of CCDU has been designated by the Government of India.
The Plan Approval Committee in its meeting held on April 23, 2009 at New Delhi accorded approval to the staff pattern proposed by the Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) 2009-10 of CCDU, Manipur and also approved to the filling up of staff on deputation and contract basis, official sources said.
The approved staff pattern includes appointment of a Director with monthly emolument of Rs 35,000, State Coordinator with the same emolument and an Accountant (Cashier) with a monthly emolument of 30,000 on deputation and engagement of three Consultants, two Data Entry Operators, one Peon, and one Security Guard on contract basis.
Despite the fact that the approval was given one year and a half back, at present only the post of Director has been filled on deputation by L Swamikanta Singh, a Senior Engineer level officer from the PHED Department, and he has been single handedly running CCDU since his appointment on December 1, 2008 .
The hitherto unmoved government has started moving with the placing of a proposal for filling up the required staff of the CCDU as per approved pattern,an official source said.
ends
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
World Water Council Offers Support to Pakistani Flood Victims
In response to the tragic flood disaster in Pakistan, the World Water Council has offered its full support to the Pakistani authorities for relief and reconstruction efforts.
Marseille, Friday 27 August 2010 - In a letter to the Minister of Water and Power in Pakistan, Raja Pervez Ashraft, the President of the World Water Council, Loïc Fauchon, expressed his deepest sympathies for the victims of the worst flooding in the country's history. Offering to assist the Pakistani authorities, he pledged the full support of the Council and its members. Says Loïc Fauchon: "The World Water Council stands ready to work closely with the Pakistani government and the international community to support relief and reconstruction efforts."
The humanitarian catastrophe leaves a fifth of Pakistan under water, and millions of people struggling without proper shelter, food and clean water. Speaking at a news conference after touring the affected areas, Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon described the situation as "heart wrenching": "I have visited the scenes of many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this". Many fear the outbreak of water-borne diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea will threaten the lives of those millions that just survived the flood peaks. The recent UN donor conference confirmed that over $460 million of aid will be needed for immediate relief and further pledges are required to mobilise this amount.
The immediate hazards in the aftermath of a natural disaster are often of the same nature: lack of potable water, disruptions in water supplies and sewage systems, food shortages, infectious disease outbreaks and lack of shelter. Major concerns exist that the devastation to farmland and irrigation systems will mean that large numbers of Pakistani farmers will not be able to produce a crop during this year and next, severely undermining the food-security situation in the country. Rapidly reconstructing large parts of the water and sanitation infrastructure to resume adequate water supplies to cities and farms will be key to avoiding a lasting drama. The World Water Council therefore calls upon the international community to mobilise additional funds to help in the reconstruction of the devastated infrastructure.
The World Water Council stands ready to assist Pakistan in the relief and reconstruction efforts through mobilising the knowledge and expertise from its 400 member organisations. As in the past, World Water Council members are engaged in sending relief goods and teams of engineers and relief specialist. In his letter to Minister Ashraft, Mr. Fauchon vowed the World Water Council to support Pakistan in the weeks and months to come.
details at
www.worldwatercouncil.org
www.watermediacenter.org
In response to the tragic flood disaster in Pakistan, the World Water Council has offered its full support to the Pakistani authorities for relief and reconstruction efforts.
Marseille, Friday 27 August 2010 - In a letter to the Minister of Water and Power in Pakistan, Raja Pervez Ashraft, the President of the World Water Council, Loïc Fauchon, expressed his deepest sympathies for the victims of the worst flooding in the country's history. Offering to assist the Pakistani authorities, he pledged the full support of the Council and its members. Says Loïc Fauchon: "The World Water Council stands ready to work closely with the Pakistani government and the international community to support relief and reconstruction efforts."
The humanitarian catastrophe leaves a fifth of Pakistan under water, and millions of people struggling without proper shelter, food and clean water. Speaking at a news conference after touring the affected areas, Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon described the situation as "heart wrenching": "I have visited the scenes of many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this". Many fear the outbreak of water-borne diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea will threaten the lives of those millions that just survived the flood peaks. The recent UN donor conference confirmed that over $460 million of aid will be needed for immediate relief and further pledges are required to mobilise this amount.
The immediate hazards in the aftermath of a natural disaster are often of the same nature: lack of potable water, disruptions in water supplies and sewage systems, food shortages, infectious disease outbreaks and lack of shelter. Major concerns exist that the devastation to farmland and irrigation systems will mean that large numbers of Pakistani farmers will not be able to produce a crop during this year and next, severely undermining the food-security situation in the country. Rapidly reconstructing large parts of the water and sanitation infrastructure to resume adequate water supplies to cities and farms will be key to avoiding a lasting drama. The World Water Council therefore calls upon the international community to mobilise additional funds to help in the reconstruction of the devastated infrastructure.
The World Water Council stands ready to assist Pakistan in the relief and reconstruction efforts through mobilising the knowledge and expertise from its 400 member organisations. As in the past, World Water Council members are engaged in sending relief goods and teams of engineers and relief specialist. In his letter to Minister Ashraft, Mr. Fauchon vowed the World Water Council to support Pakistan in the weeks and months to come.
details at
www.worldwatercouncil.org
www.watermediacenter.org
Monday, August 23, 2010
Baseline Data to Guide Handwashing Intervention in Peru
A new technical paper from the World-Bank administered Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) found that only half of care-givers in 3,526 households in rural Peru wash hands with soap at times of fecal contact, and that 10 percent of children under five presented diarrhea symptoms in the previous 48 hours - although on average 55 percent of caregivers did not seek medical advice. An average of 20 percent of households surveyed had no sanitation facilities of any type.
WSP is testing approaches to learn what works to create and sustain handwashing with soap behavior change. To establish the causal effect of project interventions on specific health and welfare measures, the project is conducting an impact evaluation (IE) using a randomized-controlled experimental design. The study, Scaling Up Handwashing Behavior: Findings from the Impact Evaluation Baseline Survey in Peru by Sebastian Galiani and Alexandra Orsola-Vidal,includes pre-intervention (baseline), concurrent (longitudinal), and post-intervention (endline) surveys administered by WSP-contracted firms in each project country (Peru, Senegal, Tanzania, and Vietnam).
"This study offers new, relevant data that will help us determine the health impacts of these hygiene interventions and shed some light on the role of behavior change," said Bertha Briceno, senior impact evaluation specialist for the project.
For more information, visit this feature story, contact Bertha Briceno, wsp@worldbank.org , or visit www.wsp.org/scalinguphandwashing.
Download Full Document: http://www.wsp.org/wsp/sites/wsp.org/files/publications/WSP_PeruBaselineStudy_HWWS.pdf
A new technical paper from the World-Bank administered Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) found that only half of care-givers in 3,526 households in rural Peru wash hands with soap at times of fecal contact, and that 10 percent of children under five presented diarrhea symptoms in the previous 48 hours - although on average 55 percent of caregivers did not seek medical advice. An average of 20 percent of households surveyed had no sanitation facilities of any type.
WSP is testing approaches to learn what works to create and sustain handwashing with soap behavior change. To establish the causal effect of project interventions on specific health and welfare measures, the project is conducting an impact evaluation (IE) using a randomized-controlled experimental design. The study, Scaling Up Handwashing Behavior: Findings from the Impact Evaluation Baseline Survey in Peru by Sebastian Galiani and Alexandra Orsola-Vidal,includes pre-intervention (baseline), concurrent (longitudinal), and post-intervention (endline) surveys administered by WSP-contracted firms in each project country (Peru, Senegal, Tanzania, and Vietnam).
"This study offers new, relevant data that will help us determine the health impacts of these hygiene interventions and shed some light on the role of behavior change," said Bertha Briceno, senior impact evaluation specialist for the project.
For more information, visit this feature story, contact Bertha Briceno, wsp@worldbank.org , or visit www.wsp.org/scalinguphandwashing.
Download Full Document: http://www.wsp.org/wsp/sites/wsp.org/files/publications/WSP_PeruBaselineStudy_HWWS.pdf
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)