study material for GS :All about Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan

Planning Comm allocates Rs 36,000 crore for sanitation

Seeking to give a big boost to sanitation in rural areas, Planning
Commission has allocated a Rs 3,6000 crores for the 12th Five Year
Plan, up from Rs 7800 Crore in the previous Plan.

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, who is also in-charge of the
Ministry for Drinking Water and Sanitation, said the Planning
Commission's decision "reflects the priority UPA government places on
sanitation in rural India".



Noting that 60 percent of open defecation in the world are in India
and "it is a matter of continuing anguish, shame for all citizens",
Ramesh said government has vowed to achieve total sanitation in the
country in the next 10 years.



He was briefing the media after the Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs on Thursday gave the nod for more than doubling the amount for
construction of individual household latrines from existing Rs 4600 to
nearly 10,000 rupees and also scrapped the distinction of BPL/APL
families to achieve total sanitation target in 10 years.



The total sanitation campaign will now be known as Nirmal Bharat
Abhiyan, Ramesh said.



Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,
Haryana and Punjab have demanded fair allocation for achieving the
sanitation goals, Ramesh said.



At present, out of Rs 3400 allocated for individual toilets, the
Centre gives Rs 2100, each state's share is Rs 1000 and Rs 300 comes
from the beneficiaries, while Rs 1200 is leveraged through MGNREGA
works as was approved last year.



But after the cabinet approval today, the Centre has to dole out Rs
3200, the state Rs 1400 and families have to provide Rs 900 while
MGNREGA funds will be to the tune of Rs 4500.



Ramesh said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid stress on linking
sanitation programme in 200 such districts where the problem of
malnutrition is acute saying there is a close link between lack of
hygiene and malnutrition.



The cabinet also made toilet construction mandatory for availing funds
for Indira Aawas Yojana henceforth. The Minister added that allocation
for IAY will also be raised from existing Rs 45,000 to Rs 75,000 by
end of July.



"I hope there will be a new impetus to sanitation. The Prime Minister
has made one point....he underscored the importance of evaluating how
these programmes are actually doing on the ground," Ramesh said.



He said that for the first time solid and liquid waste management has
been approved for villages on the model of towns and cities and gram
panchayats will get from Rs 7 lakhto Rs 20 lakh for the same depending
on the size of the population.



Noting that Sikkim has become the first Nirmal Rajya (that is 100
percent open defecation free), Ramesh said this year Kerala and
Himachal Pradesh will also follow suit.



While Haryana has resolved to achieve the target in next two years,
Punjab in next five years, and the rest of the states in 10 years
time, he added.