WRITEBACK

RESPONDING TO the report ‘Money for toilets they built never came, now they are trapped’ (February 17), the Directorate of Public Relations (DPR), Chhattisgarh, has stated that Bhagirathi Khande, quoted in the report, had constructed toilets in his home under MNREGA, that all construction materials were provided to him by the gram panchayat, and the labour wage for construction was deposited into his account as per rules.

The DPR said Khande had confirmed this to officers of the state department. He had also said that there was no loan against his name because of the construction of toilets. A loan of Rs 20,000 that he had taken was for other work, the DPR said. It said Khande’s son and daughter-in-law went to Deoria for employment, and after a complaint was filed with the District Collector of Janjgir Champa, a rescue team was sent immediately.

The Indian Express responds: The correspondent visited Andi village in Janjgir Champa district on February 10 and met Bhagirathi Khande, his wife and members of the family trapped in Deoria, Gorakhpur. Khande said while migration is not new, the family went to Gorakhpur because of financial constraints arising from the construction of Swacch Bharat toilets at home. Khande’s family said they had spent Rs 18,000 in the construction of toilets, and while they had received a payment of Rs 2,004 as labour charge, they had not been paid or given materials for building. Others in the village narrated similar accounts. A sum of Rs 12,000, promised to them before they built the toilets, had also not been received, Khande said. The allegation that the financial burden increased because of the construction of toilets was also made at a press conference attended by several journalists at the Press Club in Raipur on January 18.

On the family being trapped as bonded labour and a rescue team being sent by the administration, the report quoted the Superintendent of Police on the matter. The first complaint to the SP, District Collector was made on December 19, 2016 and the SP of Janjgir Champa wrote to authorities in Gorakhpur on December 29. A letter to the Chief Minister was submitted on January 18. It was only in February that a team was sent.