Toilets have gone “missing” from a house in a Chhattisgarh village and a woman and her daughter want the police to trace them fast.
The women filed a written complaint with the police last week after they found out that the two toilets, proposed under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, were shown in documents as already having been constructed with funds released for the purpose.
Bela Bai Patel (70) and her daughter Chanda (45), residents of Amarpur village in Bilaspur, filed the complaint stating that their toilets were stolen, Pendra Station House Officer Ishaak Khalko said.
The women wanted their toilets to be traced and action taken against those involved in the “theft”, he said, adding that an inquiry was under way.
As per preliminary information, Ms. Patel and Chanda, both widows belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category, live in two different parts of their house in Amarpur. The duo had submitted applications to the village panchayat in 2015-16 for the construction of two toilets in their house, the SHO said. The applications of all the beneficiaries from the village were forwarded to the janpad panchayat at Pendra for approval following which the permission was granted, he said.
When the construction work did not start even a year after the approval, as claimed by villagers, the women approached the janpad panchayat office last month to enquire about the status of the work. To their surprise, they were informed by the panchayat officials that the toilets have already been built. The two women later filed a complaint with police.
A local activist, Surendra Patel, sought information on the status of the toilets in Amarpur through an RTI query with Pendra janpad panchayat. Mr. Patel said as per the reply received last week, the work of construction of toilets in the houses of all the beneficiaries has been completed and money had also been paid for it. He alleged that the toilets were only built “on paper and not on the ground“.
“There is a gross irregularity in the construction of toilets under the ‘Clean India’ mission in Amarpur village,” he alleged.
When contacted, Pendra janpad panchayat’s chief executive officer K.S. Dhruva said he has received information and it was being verified.
