According to latest report accessed from the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) management information system (MIS), has declared 39% of its villages as open defecation free (ODF) till January 10, 2017.
Kerala and Himachal Pradesh have attained 100% ODF in rural areas while Haryana is inching towards them with 84%. Bihar with just 2% villages declared ODF followed Uttar Pradesh with 4% villages as ODF are worst performers in the drive . Union government verified an aggregate of 40% villages that were declared ODF till the same period.
Rajasthan had spent 219% of the budgetary allocation amount till January 10, 2017. Of the total budget, Rajasthan has spent 99% amount on construction of Individual Household Latrines (IHHL) while one per cent is used on other activities of SBM like construction of community sanitary complexes, construction of Anganwadi toilets, information education and communication activities to push behavior change. This is contrary to SBM guidelines which rule that at least 8% of the amount should be spent on non-IHHL functions of the SBM.
Individual Household Latrines (IHHL)
- IHHL are low-cost toilets provided to Below Poverty Line households and certain category of above poverty line household such as scheduled caste and scheduled tribes along with marginal farmers, landless labourers, physically handicapped and women headed households.
- Post construction, an incentive of Rs 12,000 is given to the household. The funds are shared between the central and state government in 60:40 ratio.
Last year, Churu from Rajasthan was selected among top 10 cleanest districts in plains as per the Quality Council of India (QCI) survey. The same survey revealed Bikaner, Ajmer, Pali and Dungarpur in Rajasthan at the bottom of the list relating to districts in plains. Additionally, Jhalawar Collector, Dr. Jitendra Kumar Soni will be awarded at National Stage for his efforts to construct Sulabh Toilets in public places.
New Initiative in Rajasthan For Swachh Bharat Mission
To encourage Swachh Bharat Mission and make use of lavatory a must, Cairn India in collaboration with Rural Development Organisation (RDO) and district administration of Barmer has launched a unique scheme in Baytu and Gida panchayats, under which Rs 2,500 per month are given to every family that will use lavatory in regular basis.
During launch, eight families were handed over the cheques of Rs 2,500 in Baytu village. Recently, an action plan was made with the help of Cairn India’s rural development organization to encourage and aware the beneficiaries of using lavatory. The beneficiaries were handed over the cheques after the inspection of the condition of loos and regularity of their use.
Barmer district collector Sudhir Sharma has said the scheme will benefit 15,000 families of Baytu and Gida panchayats and if it fulfils the desire, the scheme will be expanded to other areas too.
