Government of Andhra Pradesh had started the “Clean Andhra Pradesh (CLAP)- Jagananna Swachha Sankalpam Programme, on October 2, 2021.

Key Points

• Government started CLAP programme for cleaning rural areas, improving sanitation conditions and waste management with public participation.
• Under the campaign, rural households are advised not to dispose of garbage on streets and instead hand it over to garbage collector.

Garbage Collecting Vehicles

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, had flagged off 4,097 garbage collecting vehicles to start the campaign. By November 2021, garbage collection from rural households was at 22 per cent. By January 2022, it had reached to 61.50 per cent. Several Gram Panchayat officials are already sharing photos of garbage-free village streets and roads. Gram Panchayat will achieve all the targets under CLAP programme, including 100 per cent rural household garbage collection.

Objectives of CLAP

CLAP campaign was launched with the aim of segregating liquid and solid waste, encouraging home composting and onsite waste treatment, apart from door-to-door collection of garbage. It also seeks to make the rural areas free of open defecation.

Open Defecation Free (ODF) campaign

More than 13,000 sarpanches have been instructed strictly to lead Open Defecation Free (ODF) campaign from the front as well as ensure that their villages are ODF. It seeks to achieve ODF Plus status by the end of 2022. Andhra Pradesh government wants the state to become litter-free and garbage-free, by the end of 2022.

ODF plus village

A village which sustains its ODF status and ensures solid & liquid waste management and is visually clean are called as “ODF plus village”.

Who will run the sanitation drive?

Ahead of the launch of CLAP campaign, about 13,000 sarpanches and 1,200 district and mandal officials took part in an online training programme on sanitation drive conducted by UNICEF WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene). Government has deployed gram panchayat workers & officials, members of village & ward secretariats, health workers, and members of Zilla and Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies to run the campaign.

By: Brijesh Kumar