Total Sanitation Campaign not total in district yet

Only 3,927 toilets built out of required 21,673 toilets in one year

This did not just raise question on criteria on which the GPs won the award but also said that the ZP had to pull up its socks and get working to make the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) a total success.

Even after the report was out, Zilla Panchayat reports show that the progress in building toilets for houses without toilets has been slow. As on December 31, 2010 only 3,927 toilets were built while there was a need to build another 17,746 toilets.

In Bantwal taluk only 1,077 toilets have been done out of 4,652 pending homes without toilets. Mangalore taluk, which showed that 4,548 houses lacked toilets, got 701 toilets built. In Sullia 912 toilets were built as against the required 3,521 toilet.

Belthangady taluk had 4,278 houses without toilets, of which 80 houses were provided with toilet over the last one year. In Puttur only 67 out of remaining 4,674 houses were provided with toilets.

Organisations like Jana Shikshana Trust, which worked for the Total Sanitation Campaign right from its inception now, believe that the award itself became a setback for development because once the awards came the community work took back seat.

Trust Director Krishna Mulya says that DK district was given 30 per cent target to complete because of the hygiene culture that already existed in the district. “If we could not meet this meager target, then it brings us to think over the plight of the campaign in districts which had 70 per cent target to meet,” said Mulya adding that it is not just ‘no toilets’, but during the survey the categories like toilets ‘worth using’ and ‘not worth using’ have come to light. This shows the quality of work implemented.

Mulya adds that after the district made waves at the international level, what was required was a movement to sustain the development.

At least now District in-charge Minister and the Zilla Panchayat should work out plans on sustaining development and not just focus on bringing the award to the district by hook or by crook.

Meanwhile, speaking to Deccan Herald Zilla Panchayat President Shailaja Bhat said that the houses without toilets came to light during survey because new houses without toilets have come up in most of the GPs. “ZP has now made toilets compulsory in every house to be built in Gram Panchayat,” she said.