Announcing this at a World Toilet Day function on Tuesday, chief minister Nitish Kumar said the state government will bring the necessary amendments to the Bihar Panchayati Raj Act and other statutes governing the elections of urban bodies to raise public awareness about the benefits of toilets in houses.
Kumar said the central government aimed to construct 1.11 crore toilets in the state, but government records show over two crore families do not have a toilet in their home. "I personally request every financially capable person, including those associated with governmental institutions, to get toilets constructed on their premises," the CM said at the function, which was organized by the rural development and public health engineering department.
Initially, the Centre's Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan was designed to cover only below poverty line families but the state government brought even above poverty line families within its ambit, he said.
Without naming any politician, Kumar said the concept of giving priority to the construction of toilets over temples was implemented in Bihar in 2007. "Some leaders are now highlighting the importance of toilets," he said in a reference to his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi. "It must be mentioned that I personally created awareness about the benefits of toilets on residential premises during the Vikas Yatra and other public meetings from 2007 to 2009."
The chief minister said the panchayats that achieve the 100% target of constructing toilets will be given the Nirmal Gram Panchayat prize of Rs 5 lakh each. The Nirmal Prakhand award will carry Rs25 lakh in prize for blocks for conducting a cleanliness drive.
Rural development minister Nitish Mishra said the government has given priority to constructing toilets in houses across the state and will soon achieve the goal of constructing one toilet in each house.
Source: TOI
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