₹25 lakh to 1,000 people for using toilets in Barmer
BARMER HAS BECOME THE FIRST DISTRICT IN THE COUNTRY TO TAKE THE UNIQUE INITIATIVE AND OFFER ₹2,500 CASH REWARD TO EVERY FAMILY USING TOILETS
encourage more people to use toilets and give a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, 1,000 people in Barmer have got ₹25 lakh for using toilets.
Barmer district collector Sudheer Sharma on Tuesday said that 1,000 people from 13 gram panchayats have been nominated. Apart from these beneficiaries, gram panchayats have also earned ₹ 5 lakh under the initiative.
Barmer has become the first district in the country to take the unique initiative and offer ₹2,500 cash reward to every family using toilets.
The initiative is a joint venture between the Rajasthan government and Cairn India. According to an agreement, the company was supposed to construct 20,000 toilets in the state by August 2017. However, the company changed its plan after constructing 4000 toilets as it was facing some hurdles on the ground.
It was then noticed that even after constructing toilets, some families were not using them. The ₹2,500 cash reward was announced to encourage these families to use toilets.
“Teams officials monitored the beneficiaries for three months. During the period, they encouraged the beneficiaries to use toilets. Based on the team’s feedback, the company chose 1000 people who regularly use toilets,” said Rajesh Gupta, manager of Rural Development Organization (RDO), an NGO engaged by Crain India for community mobilisation, ICT activities and construction of toilets.
Gupta added that the company has planned to give similar cash rewards to total 15,000 families in Gida and Baitu blocks of Barmer.
“We had constructed a toilet at home but were not using it as we were used to open defecation. We were contacted by RDO and encouraged to use toilets. In January, a representative again visited my house and explained the benefits of using toilets vis-àvis open defecation. After that, we started using toilets. A few days ago, RDO representatives gave us the ₹2,500 incentive,” said Suresh Kumar, a resident of Khinwsar village, under Baitu Panchayat block.