The State government has declared 76% of the rural population of Karnataka as not dependent on open defecation anymore. The authorities have set an ambitious target of providing individual household toilets to all urban and rural families by March next year.
However, less than 40% of the rural population in five districts has individual household toilets. Yadgir sits at the bottom of the table with just 27% coverage. The other districts that have performed poorly in the implementation of the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan programme are Kalaburagi (39%), Raichur (36%), Bidar (31%), and Vijayapura (29%).
On Monday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister H.K. Patil presented the Gandhi Gram Puraskar to 1,900 gram panchayats that have achieved 100% success in construction of toilets. The award carries a cash prize of ₹5 lakh.
Mr. Siddaramaiah called upon elected representatives and the public to work towards making sanitation “a birth right of all citizens”. The NDA government at the Centre launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on the Gandhi Jayanti three years ago to free the country of open defecation.
Giving an account of the progress of the cleanliness campaign in rural areas of the State, the CM said 31.12 lakh toilets have been constructed during the last four years and four months, including 5.05 lakh in 2013-14, 7.79 lakh in 2014-15, 5.3 lakh in 2015-16, and 5.78 lakh as on September 25 during this year.
Mr. Patil said 11 districts in the State — Shivamogga, Chikkamagalu- ru, Mandya, Ramanagaram, Kolar, Hassan, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Bengaluru Urban and Bengauru Rural — are free of open defecation.
Where Kolar tops
According to officials, Kolar has become the first district in Karnataka to complete construction of personal toilets in urban areas.
At a Gandhi Jayanti programme in Kolar on Monday, Deputy Commissioner K.V. Thrilokchandra said areas under all six urban local bodies in the district are now free of open defecation.
According to him, the authorities have built 8,500 personal toilets and community toilets with 450 seats in place of 1,296 personal toilets that could not be constructed for want of space.
