SRINAGAR, JULY 29: The Rural Development Department today presented the draft sustainable sanitation and fecal sludge management policy for rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir before the House Committee on Environment.
The meeting, held at the Assembly Complex in Srinagar, was chaired by Speaker Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and Chairman of the House Committee on Environment, Abdul Rahim Rather, and co-chaired by the Minister for Agriculture Production, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Cooperative and Election Departments, Javed Ahmad Dar.
Chairman of the Environment Committee, M.Y. Taragami and Members of the Committee including MLA Anantnag, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed; MLA Uri, Dr. Sajjad Shafi; MLA Sopore, Irshad Rasool Kar; MLA Chanapora, Mushtaq Guroo; MLA Devsar, Peerzada Firoz Ahmed; MLA Kokernag, Zafar Ali Khatana; and MLA Gulab Garh, Khurshid Ahmed, attended the meeting.
Commissioner Secretary Rural Development Department, Babila Rakwal; Director General Rural Sanitation, J&K, Anu Malhotra; Secretary Assembly J&K, Manoj Kumar Pandit; Director Rural Development Department, Shabir Hussain Bhat; and other senior officers were also present in the meeting.
A detailed presentation on the contours of the draft policy was given to the Committee members, outlining the proposed operational framework, institutional arrangements, funding mechanisms and monitoring systems for rural sanitation. The policy aims to establish structured operations and maintenance systems, ensure safe containment and treatment of faecal sludge, and promote environmental sustainability in rural areas.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said, “Sanitation is a critical aspect of public health, and it is our responsibility to ensure that our rural areas have access to safe and hygienic sanitation facilities. I am confident that the policies we are developing will make a significant impact on the lives of our people.”
The Speaker appreciated the RDD Minister for taking the initiative of holding a consultative process before formal notification of the policy. He observed that this approach would help incorporate key suggestions from stakeholders, making the policy more practical and better aligned with ground requirements.
The Chairman of the House Committee, while appreciating the draft policy, informed that the Committee would further deliberate upon it and finalize the suggestions to be incorporated before the policy is notified.
During the discussions, the members of the Committee suggested ensuring active community participation in implementing and monitoring the policy, starting sludge management and treatment plants on a pilot basis before scaling them up to all blocks in a phased manner, creating mass awareness on safe sanitation practices, strengthening village-level institutions for operations and maintenance, and ensuring convergence of schemes to secure adequate funding support for rural sanitation infrastructure.