Bhubaneswar: In a bid to make urban areas in the state open defecation free (ODF), the state government will provide Rs 8,000 to each household covered under National Food Security Act (NFSA).
Those NFSA beneficiaries, who do not have their own toilets, would be covered under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Urban and would get Rs 8,000 for construction of a toilet, official sources in the Housing and Urban Development department said Saturday.
The government has decided to designate NFSA beneficiaries as a special category under SBM, Urban. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting held recently under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary AP Padhi, the sources said.
Similarly, the government has also enhanced the financial assistance under the scheme to general category people. Households in this category with no toilet would get Rs 6,667 instead of Rs 5,300 being given earlier to encourage people of Puri to connect their latrine with sewerage system.
The beneficiaries, who have been covered under the scheme since August 4 this year, would get the enhanced fund. The state government has targeted to construct 3,78,595 individual toilets under the mission, out of which it has succeeded to complete only 26,030 toilets. The remaining 3,52,565 toilets are targeted to be completed by this year-end.
Similarly, the government has targeted to construct 8,587 community toilets and 2,205 public toilets under the mission, out of which 118 community toilets and 35 public toilets were completed. The remaining would be completed by the end of this financial year, the officials said.
Projects worth Rs 216.92 crore have been earmarked for implementation under the SBM Urban out of which the Centre’s share is Rs 124.32 crore and the state’s contribution is Rs 92.60 crore.