The Poineer, 13 June 2014
While the Union Government led by Naredra Modi has embarked upon a target of setting up two lakh toilets for women in 5,000 villages under a Mahatma Gandhi Clean India Programme, use of toilets in Odisha is very poor and the State deserves more attention in this regard, feels a senior official in Department of Rural Development (DoRD).
The 2011 Census Report reveals that the use of latrines is very poor in the State as out of 22,40,142 Scheduled Tribe (ST) households only 1,59,708 households, i.e., 7.1 per cent are using latrines, out of which 4.9 per cent are of water closet type and 1.8 per cent are of pit latrines.
In rural areas, 5.3 per cent of the ST households in the State are using latrines out of which 3.2 per cent are of water closet type and 1.8 per cent latrines are pit latrines.
In urban areas, the position is also precarious. Only 32 per cent of the ST households are using latrines and 29.1 per cent of these latrines are of water closet type and 2 per cent pit latrines.
Director of Census Operation Bishnupada Sethi has detailed out the status on use of toilets all over the State, which will be useful to justify the case for more Central grants for sanitation.
There are only three districts, Jagatsinghapur (24.5%), Puri (24.1%) and Khordha (23.4%), where more than 20 per cent of the ST households are using latrines within their premises. In nine districts, less than 5 per cent of the ST households are using latrines, the lowest in Nabarangapur (2.4%). Read More....