Sant Gadge Baba Gram Swachata Abhiyan

Sant Gadge Baba Gram Swachta Abhiyan is an innovative experiment based exclusively on community participation. Experiment aims to eradicate unhealthy, ugly and embracing atmosphere by adopting healthy practices at household and community level along with developing facilities to make the life easy. Sant Gadge Baba Gram Swachta Abhiyan also aims to reduce dependency on government and to develop community institutions to shoulder responsibility. The high appreciation across the state has made it successful. State has proud to say that experiment brought unbelievable positive culture in the field of community development. Gadge baba, the 19th century folk hero who inspired people with his philosophy of self-reliance and community-sharing, would have been delighted at the changes that are being wrought in the villages of Maharashtra. Clean surroundings, self-help schemes, use of fuel-saving devices, increased environmental awareness and the strengthening of women’s groups are just some of them. Introduced ‘Gadge Baba Gram Swachhata Abhiyaan’ to all villages in the state of Maharashtra. It was an invitation to all villages to participate in a competition for ‘clean village’. The campaign received overwhelming response and triggered phenomenal change in rural Maharashtra

Benefits of Sant Gadge Baba Gram Swachata Abhiyan:

• Three Cleanest Villages In Each Block – Rs. 25000, Rs.15000, Rs. 10000
• Three Cleanest Villages In Each District – Rs 50,000, Rs. 30,000, Rs. 20,000
• Three Cleanest Village In Each Division – Rs. 10 L, Rs. 8 L, Rs. 6 L
• Three Cleanest Village In The State – Rs. 25 L, Rs. 15 L, Rs. 12 L
• Special prizes for such Sant Gadge Baba Gram Swachata Abhiyan

Impact of Sant Gadge Baba Campaign:

1. This campaign has ignited the community spirit
2. Large amount of voluntary labour mobilized by the community
3. Every year Rs 300 crores public facilities are created in the state. (Study of UNICEF)
4. Villages have better living conditions
5. Local Self-Government empowered

Eligibility criteria for Sant Gadge Baba Campaign:

1. It is compulsory for all the Gram Panchayats in the state to take part in Abhiyan
2. Under Sant Gadgebaba Gram Swachata Abhiyan, the schools and Nurseries selected for award in the earlier/previous level are only eligible for the higher/next level award in the scheme Rashtra Santa Tukdoji Maharaj Swach Shala and Swach Anganwadi Puraskar
3. Any school or nursery in the state should not spend money on the organization of programmes like distribution of prizes and the process of selection, the entire responsibility of financial expenditure must be incurred by either the Zilla Parishad or the state government
4. It is advisable to select the same village for the award of Rashtra Sant Tukdoji Maharaj Nirmal Gram Puraskar at all the four levels
5. It is compulsory for all the committees constituted for the process of assessment and evaluation at every stage, to undergo the process of assessment as per the schedule is given to them by the state government

Contact details & References:

1. For more details please visit following sites
2. http://wsp.org/sites/wsp.org/files/publications/Presentation-BK-Sawai-Sant-Gadgebaba.pdf
3. https://water.maharashtra.gov.in/default.aspx