One in 5 government constructed household toilets are now defunct

NEW DELHI: Drinking water and sanitation ministry on Thursday informed Lok Sabha that over 20 per cent of government constructed household toilets across the country are lying defunct according to the baseline survey of 2013. Not surprisingly, states with higher cases of open defecation have the worst record when it comes to defunct toilets. These include states like Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, to avoid any scope of people making "fake claims" of toilets being built under the Prime Minister's Swachh Bharat initiative, government-appointed surveyors will have to upload photographs of under-construction toilets along with the beneficiary on the Management Information System (MIS) created for tracking complete sanitation mission in rural areas.

The surveyors can upload the data and photographs using a mobile application and with their secure password.

A recent circular issued by the drinking water and sanitation ministry to all state governments, mentions that the mobile-based system is being introduced to "strengthen the monitoring system".

"The uploading of the photograph should ideally be done along with the reporting of each individual household latrine (IHHL) during data entry of progress every month." the circular says.

Initially, the surveyors can use their own android mobile phones and this expense will be met from administrative expenses. The ministry has asked states to monitor this at a higher level of principal secretary or secretary in-charge of rural sanitation.