Toilets to solve unemployment!

How can Karnataka, where the unemployment rate is as high as 20 per cent due to the downturn in industrial sector, generate jobs? By building toilets along the highways and employing men and women to manage them.

This is one of the recommendations submitted to the government by MLAs back from a tour to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji recently. The population of these three countries put together does not exceed 3 crore, while Karnataka’s population is 6.11 crore.

The committee headed by Congress MLA B R Yavgal had toured the countries for nearly two weeks. As many as 10 MLAs and three officials were part of the study tour sponsored by the government. Nearly Rs 1 crore was the projected expenses. Despite stiff opposition from various quarters against the junket, Yavgal defended the trip by arguing that “heaven did not fall just because we went on a tour”.

They submitted their tour report to the Assembly on Wednesday.  Referring to experiences they had in New Zealand, the members spoke highly about the quality of road construction and maintenance. Their report had a particular emphasis on the roadside toilets. These modern structures, maintained well and supplied water, were built at an interval of every 40 to 50 km. Besides these pay and use toilets, the MLAs had also seen shopping malls and coffee/tea shops along the roads. “Here, along Indian highways, toilets should be built to help travelers. Also, each toilet can create job for both men and women. This would help in reducing unemployment at least to some extent,” the legislators said in their report.

In another vague observation, the report noted that the legislators did not find any caste and sub-caste system or discrimination against anyone in any of these countries. “People were found to be honest, sincere, time-conscious, patriotic, law abiding and disciplined.

Similarly in Karnataka too, the government must take steps to ensure every citizen adopts such principles. The government must take stringent action in this regard,” the report said. However, the report is silent on the caste system prevalent here.

The MLAs also mentioned  the nuclear family system. They noticed that parents do not take care of their children once they cross 18 years. “In India too, nuclear families are increasing. Here too, the government must provide insurance facilities to the poor besides providing old age home accommodation,” said the report.

In all, 15 recommendations have been made by the panel to the government. These include encouraging drip irrigation, sprinkler system, developing tourist places by providing ropeways and constructing a ‘Dream Theatre’ on the lines of the Opera House in Sydney.