Rural Rajasthan to be ODF by March 31
the 9,891 gram panchayats in Rajasthan will be open defecation free (ODF) by March 31, 2018.
Sudarshan Sethi, additional chief secretary, rural development and Panchayati Raj department said that toilets have been built in all gram panchayats and rural Rajasthan is set to be declared ODF under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin).
There are 246 gram panchayats with 14,000 households that have not yet become ODF. But they will also meet the target by March 31, the official said.
Of the remaining gram panchayats, Jodhpur with 94, Barmer with 64 and Udaipur with 24 have been the most laggard in completing the ODF target.
Banswara has 21 remaining gram panchayats , Tonk has 18, Karauli has nine, Alwar seven, Jalore six and Bhilwara one.
Of the total gram panchayats, 7,832 gram panchayats have also completed the photo updation of the toilets according to rules. The 2,078 remaining will be completed by the month end, the official said. According to the SBM Gramin guidelines, each household is provided with an incentive of ₹12,000 for construction of a toilet and to ensure water availability. The centre’s share is 60% (₹,200) while the state’s share is 40% (₹4,800).
The payment is made through
JAIPUR:All
Direct Beneficiary Transfer and the state government clears the payment in two stages — first at the pre-construction stage and at the time the roof of the toilet is put.
The beneficiary has to upload photos of the toilet to avail the fund. The verification of all the gram panchayats will be done by the panchayat, district and state level teams between April and June after which the formal declaration regarding ODF will be made.
Rajasthan has emerged as a leading state in building toilets in rural areas, a report by the Union ministry of drinking water and sanitation showed.