In MP, villagers hunt for their ‘missing’ toilets

I am conducting an inquiry and going through the previous report. Spot verification will be held and strict action to be taken against the guilty.

In Bundelkhand’s Sagar district, a group of villagers is looking for

180 of its “missing toilets” these days .

Armed with documents sought through RTI, a group of villagers has lodged a complaint at Kesli police station in the district about their “missing toilets” built under the government’s Samagra Swachhta Abhiyan, hinting at possible corruption in the implementation of the scheme.

According to Kewlari village resident Kamta Prasad Ahirwar, he asked his village sarpanch and panchayat secretary in January 2016 why most of the villagers were left out of the toilet construction scheme.

“Sarpanch Makhanlal told us that your toilets have already been constructed and the same is mentioned in panchayat records. We all were shocked. Then, I filed an RTI at Kesli Janpad panchayat to gather information about toilets constructed in our area. The RTI document revealed that in 2014-15, about 350 toilets were constructed and payment was made for the same. However, on checking, we found that only 170 toilets were constructed and most of them were still not complete. There was no sign of 180 more toilets,” said Ahirwar.

He added that many beneficiaries spent money from their pockets to get some of the toilets completed. “But 180 toilets were not constructed at all. In September 2016, I complained about the same on CM Helpline 181. After repeated pleas, an inquiry was conducted by a Janpad official where it was reported that some toilets were damaged and the rest were fine.

“I again complained about the matter to the collector, following which on November 23 last year, an inquiry was conducted by Kesli Janpad panchayat sub-engineer KM Patel. On January 11 this year, a recovery notice was issued to the sarpanch and panchayat secretary concerned but nothing happened,” he said.

Ahirwar said one of the village panchayat members, Sunil Prasad, was also on the list of villagers who had toilets in their homes only on paper.

Earlier, money for toilet construction came through the sarpanch and panchayat secretary but these days, it is directly transferred into the accounts of the beneficiaries. However, local sources said that at the village level, the sarpanch and panchayat secretary still control most of the construction work.

Talking about the complaint, Kesli police officer Prashant Sen said they had sent the matter to the Janpad Panchayat for departmental inquiry and a criminal case will be lodged if irregularities are found. Kesli Janpad panchayat CEO PC Jain said, “I am conducting an inquiry into matter and seeing previous inquiry report. Spot verification will also be conducted and strict action to be taken against the guilty”.