BJP-ruled States have topped the list in terms of construction of toilets in individual households under the rural job guarantee scheme, MNREGA, in first three quarters of 2016-17. The call for making rural India open-defecation free (ODF) was given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2, 2014.
Data available with the Union Rural Development Ministry, which is providing funds for the Modi’s pet project under MNREGA, showed that Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat have achieved more than 50 per cent of the target during the period, while Maharashtra occupied the fourth place followed by Andhra Pradesh, where the BJP backs the TDP Government.
BJP-ruled Arunachal Pradesh in North-East is placed sixth on the chart and, Kerala, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana complete the top 10 list as far as construction of the toilets under the MNREGA scheme is considered.
To expedite toilet construction, the Government is doling out funds to the rural people under the MNREGA and the Swachchh Bharat Mission (SBM) for construction of toilets. While funds are easily available and monitoring is strict under the rural job scheme, under the SBM, fund is released after detailed scrutiny.
The Government has set target of construction of 2 crore toilets under the MNREGA scheme and 6.84 crore under the SBM. Since September 2015, a total 15 lakh toilets have been constructed in the rural areas across the country under MNREGA. According to the Ministry, 2.4 crore toilets have been constructed under the Swachchh Bharat Mission.
The cost of building a toilet is about Rs 12,000 under MNREGA as well SBM.
Overall target for the year (2016-17) is 32,99,344 Individual Household latrines (IHHl), of which 5,46,868 has been constructed while work was going on in 1,58,2272 structures as on January 16,2016, as per the data available with the Ministry.
Sources in the Ministry said that since just two months are left for fiscal 2016-17, the target does not seem to be achievable.
The laggard States which have constructed less than ten per cent of the target for the year are West Bengal (9.98 per cent), Haryana (9.81 per cent), Tripura (5.79 per cent), Bihar (3.01 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir (7.52 per cent), Odisha (6.77 per cent), Mizoram (6.18 per cent), Tripura (5.79 per cent), while Punjab (.65 per cent), Manipur (.51 per cent) and Assam (.10 per cent) are dismal at less than one per cent.
The SBM aims at achieving 100 per cent ODF India by 2019, on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The main objective of the programme is to bring about an improvement in the quality of life by promoting cleanliness, hygiene and accelerating sanitation coverage. It aims at constructing 12 crore toilets in rural India by October 2019 at a projected cost of Rs 1.96 lakh crore.
As per a World Bank study, the resulting loss to the Indian economy is 6.4 per cent of the GDP because of poor sanitation. According to the london School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, India would save $19 billion worth of health-care costs if everyone starts washing their hands with soap before meals and after defecation.