E-Paper
Ensuring upkeep of community toilets in villages, empowering women
The panchayati raj department of the district has paid close to ₹2 crore to over 500 SHGs which have in turn paid the money to women members looking after community toilets at the village level
Hundreds of women associated with self-help groups (SHG) in the 23 development blocks of the district are being financially empowered by taking care of community/public toilets in their respective villages, in Prayagraj.
The panchayati raj department of the district has paid close to ₹2 crore to over 500 SHGs which have in turn paid the money to women members looking after community toilets at the village level, officials said.
“After the construction of community toilets at the panchayat level, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had instructed entrusting the responsibility of taking care of these toilets to women SHGs. Thus, in Prayagraj, women SHGs have been given the responsibility to ensure proper upkeep of these toilets,” said district panchayati raj officer (DPRO) Alok Kumar Sinha.
He said that according to the information received from the state government, Prayagraj is at the seventh place in the state in terms of payment made to SHGs.
Under the scheme, the panchayati raj department has entered into an MoU with women SHGs which have been given the responsibility of maintaining these community toilets constructed in their respective panchayat areas. The SHGs are paid a monthly amount of ₹9000 per toilet, out of which the honorarium of the female caretaker is ₹6,000 and the rest of the money is for items needed for maintenance and cleaning of the toilet.
The official further said that there are 23 development blocks in the district and 1,540 panchayats. “We have constructed 1,399 public toilets in these development blocks and 929 toilets have been handed over to SHGs for maintenance,” said Sinha.
All these public toilets have been geo-tagged, he added.
In terms of toilets in each development block, 66 public toilets have been geo-tagged in Bahadurpur block, 85 in Baharia, 42 in Bhagwatpur, 18 in Chakka, 102 in Dhanupur, 68 in Handia, 51 in Holagarh, 63 in Jasra, 66 in Karchana, 53 in Koudhiyara, 32 in Kaurihar, 84 in Koraon, 68 in Manda, 54 in Mauyama, 68 in Meja, 65 in Phoolpur, 71 in Pratappur, 42 in Sahson, 78 in Saidabad, 71 in Shankargarh, 48 in Shringverpur, 47 in Soraon and 57 public toilets have been geo-tagged in Urva panchayat, Sinha said.
He said that of the target of 1,540 toilets, 1,399 toilets have been completed and their details uploaded on the website of the government of India. The construction work of the remaining toilets will be completed within a month.
“There are six gram panchayats where we have failed to find suitable land and because of which the toilets have not been constructed,” he explained.
The toilets that have been handed over to the panchayats are being maintained by 929 SHGs and the panchayati raj department has paid money to 566 SHGs for looking after these toilets, he added.
