Jamshedpur : State drinking water and sanitation minister Chandra Prakash Choudhary has asked his department to prepare an action plan for constructing around 3 lakh toilets across the state as part of the Centre’s Swach Bharat Abhiyan.
Under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 3 lakh toilets will be built in 600 panchayats across the state during 2015-16 financial year.
“The objective is to make the entire state free of open defecation.Launched by the Prime Minister, this dream project tops my priority list,” he added.
Administrative apathy apart, sheer lack of awareness among the masses is one of the main reasons behind this social malpractice of defecating in the open in rural areas.
The minister agreed and said a massive awareness campaign was also being planned in the targeted panchayats to pave the way for open-defecation free villages.
During the just-concluded budget session of the Assembly, members, cutting across party lines, raised concerns over the delay in executing the project.
In his reply, Choudhary had promised to speed up the project in the new fiscal.