<span style="color: #222222;">In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the 74th Independence Day celebration of this year marked the end of  the week long behavior change campaign Gandagi Mukt Bharat (GMB) organized  by the Department of Water  and Sanitation Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, at national level  and Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj J&K at the Union Territory level.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The Directorate of Rural Sanitation J&K was the nodal agency to monitor all the activities including cleanliness and sanitation drives, shramdan in villages, tree plantation activities, wall painting which were conducted from 8th to 15th of this month.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Panchayati Raj institutions actively participated in the campaign and Sarpanchs of all the Gram Panchayats led the campaign in their respective panchayat halqas.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">At District level, District Panchayat Officers led the campaign under the close supervision of concerned District Development Commissioners. The Deputy Director Rural Sanitation Kashmir and Jammu were the nodal officers for the campaign in their respective Divisions.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Resolutions were passed in 2,324 Gram Panchayats wherein people pledged to keep their villages neat and clean and sustain the ODF status of their Gram Panchayats. In 1, 538 villages, E-ratri Chapaul was conducted through Video-Calls to highlight the importance of sanitation.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Plastic waste management was another activity conducted under this campaign in which 5,300 Kg of single use plastic was collected and disposed off. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">In 1462 villages, Shramdan activities were conducted and 550 Buildings including Panchayat Ghars were white washed. More than 9,000 saplings were planted under this campaign. School Children also participated in this campaign through essay writing and painting on Swachta.</span><br />''