NE will be open-defecation-free in two years: Union Minister

SHILLONG:  Addressing a press conference in the city on Wednesday, Union Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Chaudhary Birendra Singh said that though the deadline to make India an open-defection-free country is October 2, 2019, the target in the North Eastern states would be met in the next two years.
Stating that the Government has increased the funding pattern to construct toilets from Rs 4600 to Rs 10800, he said that the Union Government has around   60 technologies for solid liquid waste management.
“We have left it to the states to decide which technologies are good and applicable in their areas. The centre is providing projects ranging from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 20 lakh, depending on the size of a village for installing such waste management plants.”
The Minister also expressed his concern over the durability of the toilets which have been constructed in the country so far, as he said that, according to a survey, out of the six crore toilets that have been constructed, 1.30 crore toilets are non-functional. He also stressed on the need to ‘change the mindset’ through partnership to make the country open-defecation-free by 2019.
He also informed that the Union Government has constructed 80 lakh toilets in the country ever since the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched.
Stating that the Government has encouraged small entrepreneurs to collaborate and support Gram Panchayats in strengthening the supply chain, he said that entrepreneurs can set up sanitary marts and production centres which will help people in accessing sanitary wares and products near their homes.
He further said that Nirmal Gram project was launched few years back and even the Panchayats had shown keen interest in the initiative, but he added that the biggest problem in India is not the construction of toilets, but the sustainability of it. “We cannot make India a defecation free country over night,” he said