Urban pockets yet to reap Swachh Bharat benefits

As the NDA government’s flagship programme Swachh Bharat Mission takes concrete shape across India, urban pockets in the State are yet to reap the Centre’s ‘largesse.’

The mission allocated Rs 420 crore to Karnataka in 2013-14, which is primarily utilised for the construction of toilets in each house. This, under the ratio of 75:25 monetary contribution in favour of the State, which is the minority contributor. Of this, the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department (RDPR) is said to have received Rs 350 crore towards building toilets in rural areas, while the Urban Development department (UDD) received Rs 80 crore towards the same.

While the mission has seen 100 per cent coverage in rural areas across 13 districts, there has been no progress in urban areas. The reason being, the Rs 4,000, which is the average allocated by the Centre per toilet, is too paltry a sum with the increasing cost of raw material. Even with the State’s 25 per cent contribution of Rs 1,333 to be added to this, sources say the sum is nothing more than a joke.

The cost per toilet built by the RDPR is between Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000. The UDD has to spend the allocated sum of Rs 80 crore in addition to another Rs 80 crore allocated by the State, towards 218 urban local bodies (ULB). According to conservative estimates, a family will have to spend Rs 25,000 per toilet including the sewer connection.

The UDD is now seeking more assistance from the State rather than the Centre, to fill the monetary void. Sources state the UDD has decided to seek Rs 8,000 assistance per toilet from the State Cabinet, in addition to the Rs 4,000 allocated by the Centre. The proposal is likely to come before the Cabinet in its next meeting.In Karnataka, as per the 2011 census, only 51.2 per cent of the population has access to toilets. Of the remaining 48.4 per cent, 45 per cent defecate in the open, while 3.8 per cent use public toilets.