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President Ram Nath Kovind visits Kanpur village that met Swachh target today

The village head, Chandrakali Devi, had placed a demand before district officials in July for help to build toilets in 700 homes.

Sapna makes a toilet for her home in Paraukh. (Express Photo/Vishal Srivastav)

On Friday, President Ram Nath Kovind will congratulate Ishwariganj village in Kanpur Dehat for becoming open defecation free, while Paraukh, the rural hamlet that was once his home, tries to make its first 100 toilets under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Paraukh is about 60 km from Ishwariganj but the distance it needs to cover to get the open-defecation-free tag is longer and marked by several hurdles.

Of the 1,039 homes in Paraukh, 350 have toilets that were made before the Swachh Bharat Mission was started. Only about 50 are in a condition to be used, according to villagers. The rest either lack direct running water supply, walls or doors. There is the reluctance of some villagers to do what they do behind closed doors. The open fields seemed to score over the tin-shed, waterless washrooms.

The village head, Chandrakali Devi, had placed a demand before district officials in July for help to build toilets in 700 homes. According to Kanpur Dehat district magistrate Rakesh Kumar Singh, a survey was on to make those. Hundred toilets were sanctioned recently, he said. But Chandrakali’s husband Balwan Singh Yadav, whose house has that rare ready-to-use toilet, listed the problems others face.

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“There are nearly 350 households with toilets. But either they are not in a condition for use or villagers still hesitate to defecate behind closed doors,” Yadav said. Kovind had earlier converted his home into a wedding hall, called Milan Kendra. A relative, Anil Kumar, looks after Milan Kendra and lives with his family of seven opposite the wedding hall. His son Dhirendra Kumar Kovind (22) is in college and prefers to go to the fields: “Defecation in the open has become a habit. I use the toilet only during rains or when the sun is scorching.”

In Paraukh, nearly 50 toilets are under construction under the Swachh Bharat Mission. The government provides Rs 12,000 for the construction of each of the toilet.

Festive offer

Sapna (23), a college student, decided to help her father Ajay Kumar get two soak pits made when they got the cash help to make a toilet. “I insisted several times to get a toilet constructed inside the house but my father was helpless because of the cost. Recently, when administration officials came to our village and told us about the financial help, we decided to get one made in the house,” Sapna said.

Another villager, Dhirendra Singh, got a toilet made by the government over six years ago but stores cow pat there. “We provided a small patch of land outside the house (for the toilet). They (the government labourers) only raised three walls and dug a small soak pit but left it open. I use it as a store room because it cannot be used in this state,” Dhirendra Singh’s wife said.

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Sadawati, another villager, said she got a toilet from the government around 15 years ago that had only three walls, no door and a soak pit. “We covered it with a tin shed and hung a sheet in the front. We made a temporary seat with bricks,” she said.

Asked about the complaints regarding incomplete toilets, district magistrate Rakesh Kumar Singh said he would look into these.

First uploaded on: 15-09-2017 at 06:42 IST
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