A meeting was held today at the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India,at New Delhi under the Chairmanship of the Secretary, Department of Water Resources.

Jharkhand Chief Secretary Rajiv Gauba along with the Secretary,Urban Development,attended the meeting. Project Director, State Project Management Group, Government of Jharkhand put forth the view and detailed the action taken by the Government in Sahebganj. The Director, UNDP India with his team also took part in the meeting.

The following decisions were taken –
· Jharkhand is to be the model state for the National Mission for Clean Ganga.

· The villages that are flood prone are to have Bio-digester toilets built that shall not allow the human waste to be leached into the ground water.

· UNDP shall work with the Government of India and Government of Jharkhand for the following achievables

o Tap into the vast existing SHG network to foster a spirit of hygiene, while strengthening them and making them a stakeholder in the programme.

o Look at innovative ways to dovetail the current schemes of the government to ensure a clean Ganga and clean Sahebganj.

o Help in Capacity Building by having a project management team at the district level assisting the Deputy Commissioner, Sahebganj and at the state level assisting the Nodal Officer National Mission for Clean Ganga.

o Creating awareness in the target villages to allow for a change in the mindset of the citizens towards sanitation. This is to be achieved through Community Participation that shall be fostered by a ‘village motivator’. This village motivator shall be provided by UNDP in line with capacity building at the grassroot level.

o Ensure livelihood generation by means of innovative implementation of state and central government livelihood schemes and promoting entrepreneurial spirit. These will include schemes like Vermi-composting, Poultry etc.

o Development of eight strategically located electric crematoriums to reduce hardship caused during monsoon season when availability of dry firewood is difficult. This shall also reduce the flow of particulate matter in the river.

o Provide intensive monitoring for achievement of Outdoor Defecation Free status of the entire project area.

· UNDP shall use existing budgetary provisions to finance the intervention along with its own resources for the capacity building.

· The next meeting shall be held next week in Ranchi under the Chief Secretary to finalize the UNDP plan for intervention with exact details.