The day Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Indian Sanitation Conference, the queer fact surfaced that that top leaders and MPs of UP, including Modi himself, have failed to meet the target of constructing toilets in their respective constituencies.
In an analysis done by 'Down To Earth' (Hindi), which will be launched in New Delhi on October 2, it says that the rate at which toilets were being made shows that the government will not be able to meet target to make India 'open defecation free' by 2019.
In Uttar Pradesh, all senior leaders, who are supposed to give a push to this campaign, have faltered in the toilet building index. A mere 7,327 toilets have been constructed in the PM's constituency - Varanasi, a target of 2,34,489 (till October 2019). Going by this rate, the target cannot be met before 2048, the magazine said.
Similar is the case of Union Home minister Rajnath Singh's constituency - lucknow. The achieved number is 5,332 against a target of 1,86177. But this rate, Singh can hope to reach the target only by 2051.
Dimple Yadav, wife of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, has a target of 5,47,739 toilets to be built by October 2019 in her constituency - Kannauj. She has managed only 8,309. At this rate, she will take 66 years to reach his target.
Sonia Gandhi’s constituency, Rae Bareli, has a target of 2,87,703, and the achieved number has been 6,581; the expected year of completion is 2060.
The other key political figures whose performance has been assessed include Defence minister Manohar Parikkar; Water Resources minister Uma Bharti, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and other MPs from UP.
“As per our estimate and going by the prevailing rate, India will not be able to meet its target by 2019 as promised by the Prime Minister,” it said and added: “This analysis is also to remind us that building toilets is only a small part of the movement towards access to sanitation for all. Firstly, as we build toilets, we must ensure that they are used, that they are functional. Secondly, we must have clear answers to questions of how can we manage and treat our waste, our excreta.”