Naragund, Karnataka, Sep 26 (UNI) Vice President Venkaiah Naidu today declared Naragund, a tiny town with population of more than one lakh, as a open defection free. Naragund in Gadag District is the first town to earn this distinction in Karnataka. Though farmers of this neighbouring Navalgund town have proved themselves tough in the stand on Kalasa-Banduri Nala project by staging agitation for over a year, they have also proved their concern to protect the environment and also dignity of women in the village by constructing toilets in each house. Mr Naidu also launched other cleanliness initiatives. Nargund taluk, with 30 villages had 11,949 families as per the baseline survey in 2012 and of them 9,949 families did not have toilets. Apart from reluctance of the villagers to have toilets in their backyards and misconceptions surrounding use of toilets, the authorities found it difficult to get toilets constructed in the villages. But after the gram sabhas and awareness meetings failed to make an impact on the need for constructing toilets, the officials decided to take the help of the ASHA and Anganwadi workers to convince the villagers and finally the residents agreed to get toilets constructed. Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj H K Patil, who is also Gadag District Incharge Minister, took active interest in the campaign. Gadag district too is on the threshold of being declared an open defecation-free district and the administration is taking all steps in this direction. In Karnataka, already 5,000 villages and 1,000 gram panchayats have been declared as open defection-free by the government and the plan is to make the State open defection-free by October 2, 2018. UNI MSP CNR CS1403