In a State where open defecation statistics is among the highest in the country, even innovative schemes to attract people to good hygiene seem to be getting a poor response. The recent announcement by the Government to felicitate brothers who would gift their sisters toilets on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan could not get an encouraging response.
In the lines of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation of the State this year, has come up with
innovative concept of ‘Bhai No 1’ to motivate people
residing in rural belts across Jharkhand to construct toilets at their residence.
The concept motivates all male members of the community to construct toilets for their sisters and gift it on the auspicious occasion of ‘Raksha Bandhan’. However, no ‘Bhai’ (brother) could be identified who would gift a toilet to his sister this Raksha Bandhan. The department has extended the dates for the scheme.
“The date to felicitate ‘Bhai No 1’ has been extended looking at the present weather conditions. Soon after receiving the details from all the 24 districts, selected males will be felicitated after fulfilling all the criteria as prescribed for the title. After the completion of the process the name will be disclosed,” said DW&SD, Principal Secretary, AP Singh.
Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation department CP Chaudhary also did not have any clue whether any one was selected to be felicitated under the scheme.
Meanwhile, not being bogged down with the unenthusiastic response from the ‘Bhais’ the department has launched a massive drive under Swachchh Bharat (Gramin) on August 10 to encourage people to construct toilets in rural pockets. Consequently, the department has received approximately 6,687 applications from people who are willing to construct toilets at their own expenses. So far, Koderma district tops the chart, as 1619 applicants there are willing to construct toilets without taking any grant from the Government.
“Under Swacch Bharat Abhiyan (Gramin) scheme, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation initiative in association with UNICEF is slowly gaining momentum among people residing in interior regions. The Department has received 1619 applications from Koderma, where people are ready to construct toilets without any government aid followed by Garhwa (699) and Pakur (656),” said Singh.
leaving out Bokaro, none of the cities like Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad have been figured out in the list yet. “The Department is compiling the list and it is being updated regularly. So far, Bokaro is in fifth position with as many as 500 applicants willing to construct toilets at their respective households without any monetary assistance from government. Moreover, 35,000 toilets will be constructed with the government assistance as per the details so far received by the department suggests,” added, Singh.
Furthermore, the date of this ambitious scheme has been extended to August 31 to target maximum people. The project was started in 124 blocks and 2234 panchayats from August 10. With the purpose to create awareness about the ill effects of open defecation, this special drive has been planned, where the resource personnel will guide the village dwellers, explaining them about the consequences of open defecation.
According to the Census 2011 records, Jharkhand tops the list in the country when it comes to open defecation. 92.4 percent of the people residing in rural areas do not have toilets in Jharkhand.