Toilet scheme may fail to meet deadline

Only less than 30 per cent of the 4.19 lakh toilets sought to be constructed in schools across the country have been completed so far, though nine months have passed since Prime Minister Narendra Modi set coming August 15 as the deadline.

However, the HRD Ministry on Tuesday projected the construction of toilets as one of its biggest achievements on completion of one year of Modi government.

Though it seems unlikely that every school will have a toilet ready for its students by August 15 due to the slow pace of work in various states, Union School Education and Adult Literacy Secretary Vrinda Swarup expressed confidence about meeting the target, saying, “People are displaying a lot of energy towards construction of the toilets.”

The Ministry has mounted pressure on the states to complete the construction of toilets in all the schools on time under Swachch Vidyalaya programme.

In the last one month, as many as 35 officials of the HRD Ministry were sent to 103 districts in 23 states to take stock of the progress made in the construction of toilets in schools. More officials are being sent to far flung areas in different states to monitor as the deadline approaches.