India, Manipur: total sanitation programme to cover 263,000 families

The afternoon session of the second day Bharat Nirman campaign held at Panthoibi Lampak started with a speech by Swamikanta Director Communication and Capacity Development Unit (CCDU) attached to the Public Health Engineering Department Government of Manipur, in northeastern India. He said under the total sanitation campaign launched by the department 20,476 toilets have been constructed in Manipur break up being 11,513 for those belonging to BPL (Below Poverty Line) families and 8963 belonging to APL (Above Poverty Line) out of 263,254.  111 sanitary complexes have been constructed out of 386. 

He also said 1602 toilets for Government schools have been constructed. The target set to be covered is 3919 Government schools, he added. He said every family having six persons is entitled to get one toilet.

If the family members exceed six persons they will be entitled to receive more toilets. He said the main objects of the Total sanitary campaign are to bring about an improvement in the general quality of the life in rural areas, accelerate sanitation coverage in rural areas to enable them have access to toilets to all by 2012 and to motivate communities and panchayat institutions promoting sustainable sanitation facilities through awareness creation and health education among other things.

Every year Nirmal Gram Puraskar Award is bestowed to the Panchayat which can have maximum number of toilets constructed in his area.  The award for the year 2008 went to Gram Panchayat Maklang and the award for the year 2009 was bagged by Utlou Gram Panchayat. The aim and objects for institution of the award are to make total sanitation programme a success.

A BPL can get the facility of having free toilet by depositing just Rs 300 [US$ 6.50), he also said. He informed the gathering that ecosan toilets will be constructed as an experiment in Manipur. In this case the human excreta will be used for useful purposes. On being pointed out that while some persons get the benefit of the Government programmes of constructing free toilets the others do not get the prestige of getting one, he rebuked saying this is total sanitary programme wherein the question of leaving applications do not arise. 

K. Kullachandra Consultant CCDU, PHED Manipur also participated in the discussion. He recited a poem that encouraged the masses to pay the thrust in the construction of toilets.

Source: PIB, KanglaOnline,