BJP-ruled states among laggards in Swachh Bharat rollout; non-BJP states among frontrunners

NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi’s ambitious nation-wide sanitation drive Swachh Bharat is all set to get launched October 2, but several states, including those ruled by the BJP, are laggards when it comes to key aspects of the dream project.

According to officials in the ministry of drinking water and sanitation that is in charge of implementing the nationwide project, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan — states led by BJP governments — are among the eight that have been making slow progress on building of toilets, one of the most important goals of the project. Swachh Bharat aims to eliminate open defecation by constructing toilets in every household by 2019, starting with 20 m toilets by 2015.

Incidentally, non-BJP ruled states such as Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh have been prompt in building toilets and sending in sanitation plans to the central government, said sources in the ministry, adding that those asked to buck up include Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal. Most of these states, known to have high levels of open defecation, have not even filed reports on the use of toilets that the ministry had demanded in June.

The maximum problems have arisen in Bihar, which has not sent regular reports or short-term sanitation plans that the ministry had demanded, officials said.

The ministry, under Nitin Gadkari, has sent letters to all states on the slow progress, warning them funds will not be released if they did not have sanitation plans ready. All states have been asked to send such a plan that includes a roadmap of the Swachh Bharat project in their respective states before the approval of any new water supply scheme. “Very low progress in respect on construction of household toilets has been noted in most states,” according to the letter, which adds that sanitation plans should include school and aanganwadi toilets, community toilets and household latrines.