SANGUEM: A little over a year back, the Goa Government had announced the State to be Open Defecation Free (ODF) and for that purpose strenuous efforts were put to get an undertaking from the panchayats stating that the concerned village is free from Open Defecation.
And for this purpose, the government had announced a scheme wherein villagers who do not have toilets of their own were assured bio-toilets at a subsidized rate depending upon the economic status of the people.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
While initially, the government had proposed rates of Rs 10,000 for General Category, Rs 5,000 for OBC and Rs 2,500 for ST, the same was reduced to almost 50 per cent after the representatives from various panchayats urged for the reduction of the proposed rates to Rs 5,000 for General Category, Rs 2,500 for OBC and Rs 1,500 for ST.
Accordingly, a large number of villagers who did not have indoor toilets applied for the bio-toilets to be constructed by a government sponsored agency. The villagers even paid the prescribed charges to the panchayat but they are yet to get the bio-toilets constructed at their doorsteps.
34 villagers from Uguem, 50 from Netravali, 14 from Bhati and about 50-odd from Kalay applied for their bio-toilets
Netravali Deputy Sarpanch Abhijit Dessai informed that the panchayat had initially not given the undertaking as demanded by the Director of Panchayats as the village was literally not ODF. There are still many households who do not have toilets of their own and are compelled to answer nature’s call in the open.
However, to compel the panchayat to give the undertaking, the authorities installed around four mobile toilets in the village at strategic locations. To use these toilets some of the villagers had to travel a distance of around seven kms which is almost unthinkable for any person to do just that to use a toilet.
However, based on the assurance given by the government and considering the fact that bio-toilets would be made soon available to the needy, the panchayat gave the undertaking stating the village in ODF when in reality it is not.
Dessai informed that a few months after the submission of the declaration by the panchayat, the authorities took away the mobile toilets which were installed in the village and the same do not exist anymore.
Moreover, even those beneficiaries who had applied for the bio-toilets under subsidised rates have not got the toilets as of now.
The money was received by the panchayat from the villagers and was subsequently forwarded to the Director of Panchayats by the concerned Block Development Office.
Bhati sarpanch also informed that the villagers who had applied for the bio-toilets are frequently visiting the panchayat office for update on the bio-toilets but there is no clear indication from the government authorities as to when the scheme will move forward. The State however got the ODF status last year.
Deputy sarpanch Manoj Paryekar said the people who had applied for bio-toilets are after the concerned panchayat members for refund of their money if the government is not in a position to construct the bio-toilets even after the villagers having made the prescribed payment.
Panchayat members of Uguem Panchayat Marcus Pereira and Sanjay Parwar had a similar tale to narrate. The villagers had applied for the bio-toilets thinking that the same will be constructed soon. In addition to the payment made to the government, the villagers had to spend another Rs 500 for stamp paper, preparing affidavit and getting other paper work done. However, till today, there is no sign of the toilets, making the villagers wonder as to where their money has gone.
The villagers in Kalay are also sore over the inordinate delay caused by the government in providing the bio-toilets. The scheme announced in August last failed to make any headway as of date forcing those who applied for the toilets to make several trips to the panchayat but with no concrete answers from concerned authorities.
