Jajpur: Government’s aim to make the state open defecation free (ODF) over the next one year seems to be an uphill task if a status report on the ongoing campaign in this district is any indication.
The construction of toilets, repairing of defunct ones and daily registration of names of the beneficiaries is going at a snail’s pace due to the lack of sincerity on the part of the officials concerned, coupled with alleged corruption among them, a report said.
According to a recent study, 12,670 toilets in Jajpur district were found to be defunct. However, 3.050 of them have been repaired as on November 9.
So far, toilets have been constructed in 1,20,915 homes under three Central government schemes – Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan and Swachh Bharat Mission. This is only 32 per cent of the total target. The objective is to construct toilets in left out 2,57,730 homes by October 2, 2018.
On the other hand, supply of piped drinking water is a part of the ODF campaign. However, out of 3,68,645 families, only 18,900 have got the facility.
According to a survey conducted by the district unit of rural water supply and sanitation department in 2012, of 1,560 revenue villages, only 393 have been provided with piped drinking water while the department has not received any grant in lieu of toilet construction.
However, it received a grant of Rs 787.50 lakh and Rs 2,362.50 lakh respectively from the state and the Centre during 2015-16, department sources revealed.
While both the governments spend crores of rupees to bring total sanitation in the district, the purpose seems to have been defeated thanks to some corrupt officials, it is alleged.
Allegation of corruption during construction of toilets in Barchana and Korei blocks recently came to light.
In the latest issue, government sources claim that 926 toilets have been constructed in Sundaria panchayat of Dharmasala block while an RTI report said that 554 toilets have been installed in the panchayat through three self-help groups.
When contacted over achieving the target in time, RWSS executive engineer Amiya Kumar Parija said the goal is a challenging one. The administration is trying its best to make the district free from open defecation in the one year, he added. PNN
