People in Gujarat prefer mobile phones to toilets inside the house

Gujarat is one of the states that have given preference to cellphones rather than toilets inside the house. As per a survey, it is revealed that far more people in Gujarat have access to a cellphone than to a toilet. These are the findings of the Sample Registration System-Baseline Survey (SRS) 2014 - 98.3% of the people in the state have mobile connections and only 69.8% have toilets in their homes.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 24 June 2016.

As per the April 2016 figures released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the state of Gujarat has 6.18 crore mobile connections, against the population of 6.04 crore as determined by the 2011 census. And, among the 6.18 crore cellphone users, 23% have internet facilities. Mobile phones have penetrated areas where even landlines have not. Even an Adivasi in a remote area finds a cellphone to be a good means to communicate.
In spite of the Rs 12000 available from the government to construct toilets in the house, not many people are coming forward to do so and, those who do so, rarely use them. Obviously, the basic culture and mindset of people need to change and mere slogans like 'swatchh bharat' will not help the cause.


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476 girls studying in a Telengana polytechnic lack proper toilets in their campus

There are 476 girls studying in a Technical Training Institute at Ameerpet that offers four diploma courses -- architecture assistantship, civil engineering, computer engineering and electronics and communications engineering. Unfortunately, they do not have any proper toilet facilities and have to go out in the open or seek out secluded spots to attend to calls of nature.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 24 February 2016.

The institute is 40-years old and, apart from toilet facilities, it is also plagued by the absence of labs and equipment. The college principal has admitted to the pitiable condition of the toilets that has deteriorated over time due to the lack of maintenance. It seems the building is slated for demolition, hence this lack of toilet facilities is seen as a temporary arrangement. A new building is apparently under construction right behind the present campus but, its completion is uncertain because of "lack of government funds".
A former head of department of architecture from the college had, in November, sent a letter to the Telangana chief minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao, and the state women and child welfare department - but he has not yet received any response.


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200 girls leave government-run residential school hostel in Jamshedpur due to lack of toilets

In a big blow to the programs of toilet in every girls’ school as a part of the ‘Swatchh Bharat’ campaign, a report has surfaced about 200 students leaving a government-run residential school at Ichagarh in Seraikela-Kharswan district of Jharkhand due to lack of toilets – it seems there are just five toilets for the 220 boarders. An unimaginable ratio by any standards.
This town is located hardly 50-Km from the country's premier steel town of Jamshedpur as reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 2 August 2015.

In view of shortage of toilets, the girls had no other alternative but to relieve themselves in the nearby fields, where they were regularly harassed by the local boys. The school warden had approached the Ichagarh police with a written complaint requesting them to check the growing incidents of harassment and the police have intensified patrolling in the area.
Unfortunately, the school does not have any boundary wall and the local boys continue to harass the girls, at times hurling stones at the hostel at night. The school has students up to Class XII.
Obviously, under such conditions, school dropouts will increase and those in the seat of power must work out suitable solutions to overcome such situations.
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Eastern Railway has received intelligence reports that suggest that the railway stations of Kolkata namely Howrah, Sealdah and Kolkata Metro railway stations could be targeted by Maoists.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 29 July 2015.

It appears that Maoist posters have been found at some railway stations of Eastern Railway like Ratanpur and Kajra railway stations in Jamalpur-Kiul section of Malda Division and, security has accordingly been strengthened at these locations.
Moreover, in view of the terror strike at Gurudaspur in Punjab, extra security measures have been adopted because, the railways have become an area of soft target.
Some of the measures are sniffer dogs for checking at important stations, passenger areas as well as mail, express, passenger and EMU trains. In addition, special watch was also being kept at crowded places like computerized reservation counters, cloak rooms, waiting halls, toilets and especially concourse areas.
Notwithstanding the above, Quick Reaction Teams have been formed. All the divisions of Eastern Railway like Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol and Malda have been alerted to gear up their security machinery to handle any sabotage or terrorist activities.
However, given the lack of equipment like CCTV, metal detectors and the gaping holes in the fencing of railway stations, providing full security coverage would be a major challenge.
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Toilet craze gains momentum in Swatchh Bharat – officials to inspect toilets in schools

#NarendraModi #SwatchhBharat #toilets The toilet craze under the Swatchh Bharat campaign is gradually gaining momentum because the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unhappy with the progress in building toilets in schools. A decision has, therefore, been taken by the government to send across senior officials to get valuable first-hand knowledge on whether schools have toilets with water facilities.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 9 July 2015.

Nearly 300 senior officials of Central government of the rank of director and deputy secretary have gone to different states for "spot inspection" of toilets in schools. They will have to submit the report by next week. These ‘observers’ have to visit 15 schools in urban areas and 10 in rural areas to verify whether toilets have been built with water facilities. In the report, they will have to give details of the separate toilets built for boys and girls in the schools they inspect.
It may be recalled that while addressing the nation on the Independence Day last year the Prime Minister had said, "There should be separate toilets for girls. Next year, when we stand here, every school should have toilets for girls and boys."
He had urged all parliamentarians to invest from their constituency funds on building toilets in every school.
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Jharkhand 17-year-old girl commits suicide because there was no toilet at home

Since she was not able to convince her patents to build a toilet at home, a girl of Dumka, Jharkhand, studying in Class 12 has committed suicide. This has been reported in zeenews.insdia.com dated 6 July 2015.
The 17-year-old hanged herself from the ceiling of her room. As understood, the girl had repeatedly tried to prevail upon her parents to build a toilet, but they did not give her plea any priority because they wanted to save money for her marriage.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been harping on a clean India and has earmarked crores of rupees to remove open defecation from the country and make the ‘Swatchh Bharat’ campaign a success. He wants that there should be a toilet in every house and many big names have contributed to the fund. But, actual happenings at the ground level leaves much to be desired as is seen from this sad incident.
In this connection it may be noted that in Odisha, tribal girls in Bilabadi and Nahudimaha villages in Odisha’s Kandhamal district have decided not to marry into households that do not have toilets. Read details here.
In Akola, Maharashtra, a girl demanded and got the gift of a portable toilet as a wedding present. It is a prefabricated toilet with a water closet, a wash-basin and mirror standing around one foot above the ground. Read more here.
A recent UN report has noted that in India, there has been very little change over the last 20 years in reducing open defecation among the poor. (Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Cleaning up India – 7.1-lakh toilets built during January under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

#SwachhBharat #NirmalBharatAbhiyan #toilets As per latest information, as many as 7.1 lakh individual household toilets had been built in January and this was the highest for any month since the project was launched in October Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream project, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
However, it falls far short of the planned 1.2 crore toilets for the fiscal year as reported in economictimes.indiatimes.com dated 17 February 2015.
Data released by the government is that a total of 31.83 lakh toilets have been built between April 2014 and January 2015 – this is approximately 25.4% of the target for 2014-15. The program envisages an investment of nearly Rs 2 lakh crore over the next five years in order to construct 12 crore toilets.
It seems there is more than meets the eye because an official has indicated that the 'internal target' set for the year is 50 lakh and the associated ministry of drinking water and sanitation would be able to meet the target. He has clarified that the targets shown on the website are basically to push the states to do more.
The bottom line is that the internal target set earlier under the erstwhile Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan of 1999 of the previous UPA government, i.e. 50 lakh household toilets for this year and in subsequent years would be met since funds are not a constraint.

A shocker from J & K – 14 police stations and 48 police posts do not have any toilet!!

#swatchhbharat #policestations #RTI #toilets #drinkingwater Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be shocked to know that it has been revealed by an RTI activist that more than a dozen of police stations and police posts across the state of Jammu and Kashmir do not have any basic amenities like toilet and drinking water. This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 15 February 2015.
The Information has been made available by the Public Information Officer cum AIG Welfare of the Jammu and Kashmir Police Headquarters and it was in response to the application under RTI act and the information is that 48 police posts and 14 police stations in the state do not have any toilet facility.
Moreover, 49 Posts and 23 Police Stations do not have any drinking water facility.
The pet project of Prime Minister Modi is a Swachh Bharat or a Clean India and instructions have been issued to ensure that open toilets are gradually removed and replaced with regular toilet facilities. Awareness is being spread via TV ads and corporate houses are being roped in to take up the cause of schools – especially those meant for girls. This is important because there are reports that girls drop out of schools because there are no proper toilet facilities.
However, the pathetic state of J & K with its police stations minus toilets and drinking water facilities is something that must be addressed on immediate priority.