In his first address to nation on Independence Day last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed India Inc to help construct toilets in all schools with separate ones for girls.
On Saturday, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the Prime Minister will again exhort the corporate sector to help build loos, but this time for the public across the country by next year as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) endeavour.
The move aims to get the corporate sector involved in the construction of the toilets in a big way to help make the Swachchh Bharat Mission successful in achieving its target of making the villages and towns open defecation free by 2019, said sources in the Urban Development Ministry.
Moreover, they said, public toilets are considered a necessity and have to be installed at regular intervals across cities. Women and children face the biggest problem and there have to be such basic amenities.
last year, Modi in his Independence Day speech had stressed that toilet is ‘the dignity of woman’ and called on the parliamentarians and corporate sector to help in building toilets in schools under their CSR projects on priority.
He sets a year’s target to achieve this goal. “When we again meet here next year, we should be able to stand here with confidence that there is no school in the country where there is no separate toilet for girls and boys.
However, according to details of a review of the Swachchh Vidyalaya programme chaired by Modi mid-June, the performance of the private corporate sector in building school toilets has not been impressive.
The private corporate sector has completed construction of just 424 toilets or 8 per cent of its commitment of 5,134 toilets.
While construction is in progress in a third of the total commitment, it is yet to commence in the remaining 59 per cent. Overall, the gap continues to be high, with 68 per cent or 2,98,458 toilets yet to be built.
As per new company law which came into force from April 1, 2014, all companies, including foreign firms, with a minimum net worth of `500 crore, turnover of `1,000 crore and net profit of at least `5 crore, spend at least two percent of their profit on CSR.
Works carried out by corporate in the area of toilet building is very much part of social welfare spending activity under new companies law. Sensation and Rural Development is also priority areas. Under the mission, the Government has targeted to build 1.04 crore household toilets and five lakh community and public toilets by 2019.