Mumbai: The state’s economic survey for 2009-10, which was published on Tuesday, has revealed that 36% of schools in Maharashtra do not have toilets for girl students. What’s further startling is that 12% of schools do not even have the facility of drinking water

These are *official* stats…The reality may be much worse.

It is a daily struggle for millions of slum dwellers in the country to get access to a toilet, a perennial problem that authorities have so far been unable to solve.

But, now a Swedish firm has come out with a solution — Peepoo, a biodegradable toilet bag that can be used as fertiliser.

The toilet bag, which has recently undergone field trials in India, Bangladesh and Kenya, is expected to help mitigate the dreadful situation for millions, especially the women in the slum areas, says its developer Anders Wilhelmson, an architect and professor in Stockholm.

…The Peepoo is clean from the beginning and doesn’t smell after use and very importantly, it makes collection of waste very easy,” Camila Wirseen said.

“It works like micro treatment plant and cuts the contamination. This will save lives.”

…Megh Pyne Abhiyan, an NGO, has carried out the trial in three flood-hit districts of Bihar –Supaul, Khagaria, Saharsa– last year.

Describing Peepoo’s other features, the officials said the bioplastic bag can be used as fertiliser, which is an expensive and scarce commodity in countries like India.

Once used, the 14×38 cm slim elongated bag can be knotted and buried under the earth. With a layer of urea crystals, the waste can turn into fertiliser, killing off disease-producing pathogens found in feces.

“Not only is it sanitary, they can reuse this to grow crops,” Wilhelmson said.

“You can use it directly in a small container or Garden-in-a-Sack. It can also be processed and mixed with topsoil and loam (clay+sand) creating a soil filled with nutrients.”

About the cost of the bag, the officials said, it will be comparable to the price of polythenes used to collect garbage.

http://sify.com/news/Health-minister-39-s-constituency-faring-worst-in-providing-toilets-Nov-19-is-World-Toilet-Day-news-National-jltrabfjedj.html” rel=”nofollow”>Health minister’s constituency faring worst in providing toilets (Nov 19 is World Toilet Day)

JHANSI BOTCHA LAKSHMI
Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:-

(a) whether the Government has declared many villages/districts in the country as total clean villages/districts under Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC);

(b) if so,the details thereof,State-wise;

(c) whether any assessment has been made by the Government about the level of performance of the Scheme so far;and

(d) if so,the details thereof?
ANSWER

MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (Dr.RAGHUVANSH PRASAD SINGH)

(a) to (d) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

Statement referred to in the reply to parts (a) to (d) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 207 admitted for reply on 12.12.2008

(a) & (b) Yes,Sir.To add vigour to the sanitation campaign, an incentive for fully sanitized and open defecation free Gram Panchayats,Blocks, and Districts called the `Nirmal Gram Puraskar`(NGP) has been approved as a component of Total Sanitation Campaign. Gram Panchayats,Intermediate (Block) Panchayats and District Panchayats,which have achieved 100% sanitation coverage are considered for the incentive,if the following conditions are fulfilled:

# All households in the Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) area must have access to individual toilets or to community complexes.

# All schools and Anganwadis must have toilets.All co-educational schools above primary level must have separate urinals and toilet blocks for boys and girls.

# Complete elimination of open defecation within the boundaries of the PRI.Nobody,including floating population, defecates in the open and child faeces are disposed of in toilets.

# All water sources to have proper platforms and drainages around them.

# Proper mechanism for Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM).No garbage dumping and water logging within the boundaries of the PRI.

The award money is given to the PRIs,based on a population criterion, which is as follows:

Particulars Gram Panchayat Intermediate District Panchayat
Panchayat

Population as Less 1000 2000 5000 10,000 Upto 50001 Upto More
per Census than to to to and 50000 and 10,00,000 than

2001 1000 1999 4999 9999 above above 10,00,000

Award 0.50 1.00 2.00 4.00 5.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 50.00
Money
(Rs.in Lakh)

The Nirmal Gram Puraskar has received tremendous response in the field. First NGP award was distributed in 2004-05, in which 38 Gram Panchayats and 2 Intermediate Panchayat were found eligible and were awarded the NGP. In 2005-06, this number increased to 760 Gram Panchayats and 9 Intermediate Panchayats. In 2006-07, 4,945 Gram panchayats and 14 Intermediate Panchayats were given the Nirmal Gram Puraskar. In 2007-08, 12,075 Gram Panchayats and 105 Intermediate Panchayats have been given the Nirmal Gram Puraskar. The State-wise details are annexed.

(c) & (d) Mid term review of Total Sanitation Campaign was conducted by Agriculture Finance Corporation in 2004.Among other things, it pointed out that adoption of toilets was only 61.5% and it was felt that there was need to revise the unit cost and some other parameters of the programme.It also mentioned that there was need to improve IEC activities including mass media campaign.It was felt that there was need to encourage those involved in the programme at the grass root level and efforts should be made to increase their capacity to deliver.It also recommended provisions of super structure for individual households and extending financial incentives therefore.

Based upon the recommendations, the unit cost of Individual Household Latrine (IHHL) was revised upwards and is presently at Rs. 2500 per unit and Rs. 3000 for difficult and hilly areas.A new component of Solid & Liquid Waste Management was introduced as part of TSC and a concept of revolving fund was introduced to encourage APL families to build toilets.

A study was commissioned through UNICEF in 2008, to assess whether the spirit, principles and quality of the NGP are maintained during the scale up of the TSC. The main objectives of the impact assessment study includes whether the principles of NGP have been sustained in existing awarded PRIs including the open defecation free environment and whether the process was socially inclusive and how the NGP award has influenced other sanitation related activities and overall social development in the awardee PRIs.The study was carried out in 162 NGP awarded Gram Panchayats across six study States i.e.Andhra Pradesh,Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.These included 37 NGP awarded GPs from 2004-05 and 125 NGP awarded GPs from 2005-06 selected on a random basis.

This Report shows that 85 percent households have access to individual,community or shared toilets.The main reasons for non use of toilets includes unfinished installations and lack of a super structure.It also shows that with introduction of NGP,there has been a good achievement in most states with respect to Total Sanitation Campaign which leads to almost 70 percent people using toilets. A majority of schools (96 percent) have toilets and 89 percent have urinals,with separate urinals for girls and boys in 84 percent of schools. The emphasis on solid and liquid waste disposal were lacking in more than half the GPs and households visited and this requires further improvements through creating adequate infrastructure such as drains and waste bins,and creating awareness through social mobilisation. The analysis of primary data suggests that there is a positive linkage between social mobilisation and performance of various sanitation indicators.The NGP award has helped in scaling up the TSC to a great extent and helped in improving sanitation practices.There is, however a need for better monitoring and verification process.

Based on this report,all six States have been asked to take corrective action to ensure sustainability of NGP status in the awarded villages.Also, the verification process for NGP has been strengthened to include a sample re-verification process by members of earlier awarded NGP villages.The award money is also now released in installments,after ascertaining the sustainability of the nirmal status.As part of the ongoing process of monitoring and evaluation of schemes,a further evaluation of NGP has been initiated.

for annexure go to http://164.100.47.132/annexture/lsq14/14/as207.htm

I strive for a reasonable balance but in the end this is a personal blog, so it reflects what is on my mind…which may not be identical to what gets reported in the newspapers – but that is what makes it interesting, I think – don’t you agree?

Sure, it is interesting. It’s your blog. And as you said it reflects what’s on your mind!