Rural sanitation bill in winter session

A Bill to provide the rural population of the State the legal right to sanitary facilities will be introduced in the State legislature in its next session.

H K Patil, the Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, said that the draft of the proposed ‘Karnataka Rural Sanitary Facilities Guarantee Bill – 2014’ was ready and would be introduced in the legislature in the winter session. 

“This Bill seeks to provide legal right to the rural population with backing of budgetary support and also land acquisition if necessary,” Patil said, speaking at a meeting of State rural development ministers. 

Patil said that the State government was already spearheading the sanitation campaign on a mission mode.

“The government is determined to provide pure drinking water to all and to make the State free from open defecation by 2018,” he said. 

According to Patil, the State government needs at least Rs 7,427 crore to implement and commission all rural sanitation and drinking water projects it had embarked upon, including the multi-village schemes and the ones in Design-Build-Operate-Transfer mode.

He requested Gadkari to provide Karnataka additional assistance for regional water supply schemes.