Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government plans to build 5.2 million toilets in the southern Indian state in the next four years.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu told reporters on Friday that his government aims to construct 800,000 toilets in the current financial year that ends on March 31, 2016. Nearly half of them has been already built and the rest is various stages of progress.
Naidu asked officials that the toilet construction target of this year should be completed by March end.
The chief minister was reviewing the ‘Swachh Bharat’ (clean India) campaign and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme, ndtv.com reported.
Naidu asked the officials to utilize funds from these two programs to build the remaining toilets by 2019.
He also announced another government plan to make concrete roads in all villages by the time his government completes its term.
Soon after it came to power last year, the government had 6.2 million families that require toilets.\
In 2011, the undivided state of Andhra Pradesh ranked 26th among states and territories in terms of toilet availability, just above Tamil Nadu. Lakshadweep topped the list with 97.4 percent households having toilets.
As of the 2011 census, 43.1 percent of households in Andhra Pradesh had access to a flush toilet, 5.4 percent had access to a pit toilet, and 1.1 percent had access to another type of toilet. 50.4 percent of households in the state lacked toilet facilities.
Meanwhile Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore gained the unique distinction of becoming the first district in the country with the highest number of electronic toilets in its schools.
Kerala-based Eram Scientific Solutions, the sole manufacturers of e-toilets in the country, has deployed these automated and self-cleaning e-toilets in 411 schools in Nellore as part of the corporate social responsibility initiatives of Tata Consultancy Services.
Eram Scientific announced the world’s most economically-priced e-toilet on October 1, 2014, as a foreword to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan program.
The school model e-toilet “e-Lite14” has automatic floor wash system, automatic ceiling light, exhaust fan, in-built sensors to conserve electricity and water, and an overhead water tank.
It works on both solar and electric grid and is priced at 100,000 rupees. It also has a one-year warranty and insurance coverage.