Question : TOILET FACILITIES .

(a) the number and percentage of rural households in the country that do not have access to toilets, State/UT-wise;

(b) whether the lack of access to toilets in the rural areas have made the women vulnerable to sexual violence as they have to go out to defecate in open and if so, the steps proposed to be taken to construct toilets in every household in rural areas of the country;

(c) whether any special emphasis would be made for the States which are lagging behind in construction of toilets in rural households and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Government has reviewed the present schemes on sanitation/ construction of toilets in the country and if so, the details and the outcome thereof; and

(e) whether. the Government proposes to modify the said schemes in view of the large percentage of population having no access to toilets and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development, Minister of State in the Mm1stry of Panchayati Raj and Minister of State in the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (Shri Upendra Kushwaha):

(a) The number and percentage of rural households in the country that do not have access to toilets, as per Census 2011 , State/UT-wise is at enclosed statement.

(b) People, especially women and children face difficulties in the absence of toilet facilities in homes. However , there are also behavioral issues and individual preferences regarding the use of toilets, where available. The Government of India administers through the States/UTs, the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) in the country , a comprehensive programme to ensure sanitation facilities in rural areas, in cluding construction of toilets, with the main objective of eradicating the practice of open defecation and ensuring clean environment. The objective of NBA is to achieve sustainable behaviour change with provision of sanitary facilities in entire communities in a phased, saturation mode with `Nirmal Grams` as outcomes. The goal of NBA is to achieve 100% access to sanitation for all rural households by 2022.

Under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA), following steps have been taken for accelerating the sanitation coverage:-

-Provision of Incentives for the construction of IHI-IL to all Below Poverty Line Households and identified Above Poverty Line (APL) households which include all SCs /STs, small and marginal farmers, landless labourers with homestead, physically handicapped and women-headed households.

-Financial incentive for construction of toilets has· been raised for all eligible benefic iaries to Rs. 4600/- from the earlier amount of Rs 3200/-.under NBA. In addition up to Rs. 5400/- can be utilised under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme for construction of the toilet. Along with !he beneficiary contribution of Rs. 900/-, the total unit cost of toilet is now Rs. 10,900/­ (Rs 11, 4 0 0/- for hilly and difficult areas).

-Emphasis is being given on Information Education Communication (IEC) with 15% of the total outlay of district projects earmarked for lEC act ivities.A conjoint approach is in place with National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) to ensure water availability for sanitation in Gram Panchayats.

-Focusing of convergence of rural sanitation (NBA) with programmes of associated Ministries including Health, School Education, Women and Child Development.

-Increasing the Financial support for sanitation, the 12th Five Year Plan outlay has been fixed at Rs. 37159 crore, which is 468% higher than the I Ith Five Year Plan Outlay of Rs. 6540. crore.

(c) The Ministry approves Project Implementation Plans for States which hav . balance objectives with regard to sanitation facilities. Funds are allocated annually to States on the basis of their balance objectives.

(d) The Ministry regularly reviews the implementation of the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan including through periodical progress reports, Review meetings, Video Conferencing, visits of officers, reports of National level Monitors. States which have not implemented the programme effectively are provided technical and administrative advise to improve their performance.

(e) To improve the pace of implementation, changes are made to the scheme as and when required. The Ministry is in the process of reviewing the scheme with a view to accelerating the pace of sanitation coverage in the country.