Rajasthan makes big strides in clean India campaign

Panchayats in 13 districts in the state have become open defecation free (ODF) under ‘Clean India Campaign’ (Swachh Bharat Abhiyan). Panchayats in 14 more districts will achieve ODF target by the end of this year. Against the target of 82.41 families without toilets, 69.91 have constructed toilets, which means 85% families now have toilets in their homes. As for panchayats, 69% have become ODF. If counted in numbers, 6821 out of 9891 gram panchayats are ODF. However, five districts are still lagging including Udaipur, Barmer, Karauli, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand and Tonk.

Cabinet minister Rajpal Singh Shekhawat, Krishnendra Kaur ‘Deepa’, Kiran Maheshwari, Surendra Goyal, Dr Jaswant Yadav and Dhan Singh Rawat are the six ministers in charge of these six districts that have fallen short of ODF target.

In Udaipur, more than one lakh toilets still need to be constructed. Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Dhan Singh Rawat is in charge here. Rajsamand, Tonk and Pratapgarh are behind the target by more than 50,000 toilets. Rajpal Singh Shekhawat, Krishnendra Kaur ‘Deepa’, Kiran Maheshwari are in charge of these three districts, respectively.