Taking cue from his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday said that people fighting elections for Gram Sabhas will need to produce ‘toilet certificate’. “The testimony would be made a must for the aspirants in the lines of other certificates,” he added.
The Chief Minister was apparently baffled by exceptionally dismal track record of Jharkhand on open defecation front. Speaking at a programme organised by Drinking Water and Sanitation Department on the World Toilet Day, the CM put the onus on the PRIs due to their close proximity with villages where open defecation practice is at its highest level.
“We have plans and do not want them to keep just on the papers. We want to take the message to all. I will ensure that without toilet, no one can become a Mukhiya. Whether income certificate is verified or not, this toilet certificate should be a requirement for filing the nomination,” said Hemant.
As per census figures only 7-8 per cent population of the State has access to clean toilet. This cuts a sorry picture considering 3.30 crore population comprising in about 60 lakh households in the State. A recent report by the UNICEF suggested alarming situation in Jharkhand schools as well. Though the official figure talks about 80 per cent availability but majority of them have tuned defunct due to lack of civic awareness among children and poor maintenance.
The CM also underlined the importance of community participation in achieving the goal of open defecation free (ODF) villages. “We have learnt to ride vehicles, go to hotels, eat food, and wear clothes but still lagging behind in having toilets. We are still not conscious of it,” he said and announced that his Government would consider making toilet pans VAT free for bringing down the input cost. He also stressed on the provision for having a toilet in every Indira Awas unit being built in the State.
The Government is eying to achieve complete ODF before 2022 under the Nirmal Bharat scheme. Principal Secretary of the Department Sudhir Prasad said that Rs 20 crore has been released for making villages ODF by involving entire community and not only few households. Active participation of the villagers has also been ensured by taking monetary contributions and making revolving funds including the aide coming from the Government.
Gadri of Ranchi attained the status of the first village of the State to achieve ODF status followed by Hutar and few others. UNICEF Jharkhand head Job Zachariah held open defecation a reason for lower height and IQ level in children and above 9,000 deaths caused by diarrhea every year in the State.
The Chief Minister also underlined the commitment of the Government to provide pure drinking water through piped water supply system by 2017 to every village.“I want these hand pumps to go away. Sab ulta pulta kam ho raha hai. We have cases of iron and fluoride due to high mineral content in the soil of the State. Villagers use it and fall ill. We will try to close this. Department should think and work for water supply scheme more vigorously,” said Hemant.
On the occasion he also distributed appointment letters to newly appointed Junior Engineers in the Department. Assistance money of Rs 4.62 lakh was also given to parents of ace archer Deepika Kumari. Girl footballers of YUWA India, the NGO run by American Franz Gastler at Hutup village of Ormanjhi were also felicitated. The Department is planning to make the village and others adjoining it ODF with the help of the tribal girls who would spread awareness against the practice among the villagers.