12/09/2014

Bihar worst in use of toilets: Upendra Kushwaha

 


Patna,(BiharTimes): Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation Upendra Kushwaha said on Thursday that Bihar was the worst state in use of toilets.
Talking to the media he said while the national average for open defecation is 60 per cent, in Bihar it is 77 per cent. Hardly 33 per cent homes in the state have toilets.
However, he expressed doubt over this official figure of open defecation and said the ground reality suggests that it may be higher. He said it is a matter of shame that rural women have to relieve themselves in the open on the road sides. It involved issues related to honour, security and health of women.
The Union minister said the toilets built in the last few years under the central government’s Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan are in worst condition in Bihar. He said he had personally visited several districts in Bihar and inspected public toilets built under the scheme. Only a few of them are in working condition.
The Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had in his Independence Day speech, assured that toilets would be provided to the last of the poor. Kushwaha said the Centre had fixed an aim of providing toilet facilities to all poor by 2019.
He also said if the state government prepares any proposal for maintenance and cleaning of existing toilets, the Centre would surely help in it.


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