Balasore: Even as the Central government boasts of its remarkable achievement in the front of toilet construction under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in rural areas, residents of a Dalit-dominated village in this district came out with a startling fact that people from peripheral areas are not keen to have bonds with them through marital ties due to lack of toilets in most households.
Residents of Tina village in Barunasingh panchayat came out with such an allegation before the district administration Monday. They claimed that the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan has floundered because not a single toilet was constructed in the village under the much-hyped programme.
About 80 per cent of the Dalit families have no way but to defecate in the open as usual, which is causing health hazards for them, the residents said.
They lamented that toilet construction is being carried out in other villages while no toilet was built in Ward-7.
Bijay Kumar Mallick, a resident, was candid to admit that people of other villages are not keen to marry their daughters off in this village due to lack of toilets.
Most of the residents of the 300 family-strong village are daily wagers. Due to financial constraint, they have not been able to build toilets on their own. “Womenfolk have no way but to defecate by the roadsides, facing humiliating situations on several occasions,” rued Bhabesh Das, Umesh Mallick, Ashish Das and Jaykrushna Barik.
They alleged they had taken up the issue with the BDO and even with the collector, but no step was taken in this direction.
Sources said several work orders have been issued to beneficiaries in the same panchayat, but the rural water supply and sanitation department has not done so in Tina village.
According to a baseline survey, 1,022 out of total 1,568 families in the panchayat do not have toilets.
A junior engineer of RWSS said as beneficiaries are provided toilets in a phased manner, there is a delay in Tina. The villagers will be provided toilets in a phased manner, he added. PNN
