Minister Dilawar orders suspension of 5 officials over poor sanitation:Says BDO never visits villages, questions accountability if disease spreads

Rajasthan’s Education and Panchayati Raj Minister Madan Dilawar lost his temper after seeing poor sanitation in Sikar. He called the District Council CEO and asked who would be responsible if diseases spread due to the filth. Minister Dilawar ordered the suspension of two Block Development Officers (BDOs), two Additional Block Development Officers (ABDOs) and a sanitation coordinator. He also directed that charge sheets be issued to the District Council CEO and Additional CEO. On Sunday, Minister Dilawar was travelling from Jaipur to Churu. During the journey, he visited several gram panchayats in Sikar. He first reached Thikaria gram panchayat in Sikar district, and then visited Rewasa gram panchayat under Palsana panchayat samiti. Asked villagers – Does sweeping happen daily? Seeing piles of garbage across Rewasa village, the minister became angry. He called the villagers and asked whether sweeping was done daily in the village. He also asked if sanitation workers from the panchayat visited regularly. The villagers said no one came to sweep, nor did any vehicle come to collect garbage. Called the Chief Executive Officer of Zila Parishad Sikar Minister Dilawar then reached Bajor village, where water was spread across the area, with mud and blocked roads at several places. Garbage heaps were lying even on the main road. Seeing this, he immediately called the District Council CEO. He asked, “Do you ever visit villages? Have you ever inspected cleanliness in any panchayat samiti?” The minister said he had travelled across several villages and found garbage heaps everywhere. There was no proper system for sweeping or sanitation. “With summer approaching, if cholera spreads due to this filth, who will be responsible? Your BDO never visits the villages,” he said. The minister also stopped on the way to speak to local residents. Minister said – I have been asking for cleanliness for 2 years Expressing anger, the minister said he would take action against all responsible officials. “I have been stressing on cleanliness for the past two years, but you are not taking it seriously,” he said. These were suspended Minister Dilawar directed that the District Council CEO and Additional CEO be issued charge sheets, and ordered the suspension of BDOs and ABDOs of Palsana and Piprali panchayat samitis. He also ordered the suspension of sanitation campaign block coordinator Mithalal Bunkar. The minister said that if cleanliness work was still not being carried out despite repeated instructions over two years, strict action would be taken against responsible officials. If funds meant for sanitation were used for other purposes, recovery would also be made from the concerned officials.