West Bengal’s Nadia district has been awarded with the United Nations Public Service Award 2015. The prestigious award has been given in the category of improving delivery of public services for eliminating open defecation. The award was presented by the acting Secretary General of the UN Lenni Montiel to District Magistrate of Nadia and Sabhapati of Nadia Zilla Parishad in Medellin, Colombia.

Few weeks back, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee announced Nadia district as the first open defecation free district in India. The district had achieved this feat by making toilets available for all under state governments flagship programme Sabar Shouchagar (Toilets for All). It was a collaborative effort with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Bank along with state government and local governments.

Under this program a total of more than 5 lakh toilets were build in households and over 200 cluster toilets in public places. After completion of the building toilets under this programme, the percentage of people defecating in open has gone down to 0.02 per cent compared to 33.8 per cent when the project was started.