Ranchi: Toilets as gifts for sisters on Raksha Bandhan!
The state drinking water and sanitation (DWS) and urban development departments have floated this unique idea, through a hoard of posters put up across Jharkhand,exhorting people to present a precious gift to their sisters this August 18.
“Is Raksha Bandhan, dijiye bahenoko ek anmol uphar – subidha, suraksha aur samman (This Raksha Bandhan, present your sisters a precious gift – convenience, security and prestige). Those who will do it will become Bhaiya No 1,” one such poster read.
These posters are part of an extensive campaign launched by the government to make the state open-defecation free (ODF).
“We have decided to launch a massive awareness drive to educate masses so as to make ODF by October 2, 2019,” DWS minister Chandra Prakash Chaudhary said at a news meet at the Swachh Bharat Mission office in Ranchi this afternoon.
In the first phase, the awareness drives will be carried out in 2,234 panchayats that have been targeted for making ODF by the end of 2016-17, the minister said.
Out of the 4,562 panchayats in the state, 164 have already been declared ODF.
“The government is providing a subsidy of Rs 12,000 for construction of a toilet at such houses that do not have one till now. Apart from people belonging to below poverty line, physically challenged and SC/ST people are also eligible for this subsidy,” said A.P. Singh, principal secretary at the DWS department.
Asked if the state would be able to meet the target, Singh said: “Around 30 lakh toilets are needed to make the state ODF by 2019. It is difficult, but achievable.”
When contacted, Madhulika Jonathan, the head of state Unicef which is also involved in the ongoing cleanliness campaign as a partner organisation, said the government was pretty serious about this issue and was actively involving all stakeholders in the process to achieve the target, The Telegraph reported.
“Community involvement is important in making an area ODF. Once a place is totally ODF, many health issues affecting the residents will be solved,” she added.
Though the government is extending financial support to poor families for constructing toilets at their home, lack of awareness about the eligibility criteria is causing confusion.
“There are around 300 people in our area who decided to construct toilets with septic tanks by investing extra amount. Many of them have taken loans for the work. But they are now being told that they would not get the subsidy,” Ajay Singh, mukhiya of Bundu panchayat in Bokaro district, complained on a social networking site.
Principal secretary Singh said: “Toilets of the suggested specification have double leach pits and cost less than those with septic tanks. The subsidy is given to the needy, but those who can build toilets with septic tanks at a higher cost are supposed to be capable people.”