Toilets are being used for storing food grain: Ramesh

 Decrying the lack of proper sanitation facilities, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday said toilets built over the last 10 years across the country are being used for storing food grain.
"In last 10 years, toilets have been built (across the country)...But toilets are not being used for the purpose for which they had been built. They are being used for storing food grain...they have been turned into storage godowns and they have been locked," Ramesh told reporters here today.
The minister chaired a regional review meeting on drinking water supply and sanitation in which representatives from Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh participated.

Asked about states where toilets were being used for storing food grain, Ramesh said Punjab was one of them where this practice was being followed.
Not optimistic of achieving the target of making India an open-defecation free country in next 10 years, Ramesh said there were several big states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa where it would take at least 15-20 years to become open-defecation free.
"...I do not think that we can achieve this target...we have several big states like UP, Bihar, Orissa and MP where it seems impossible that these states will be open-defecation free by 2022. These states may take 15-20 years," he noted.
Asserting that 60 per cent people in the country still defecate in the open, Ramesh said that the Centre had set a target to become open-defecation free under the 'Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan' in the next ten years.
The financial assistance for setting up a toilet has also been hiked from Rs 3,500 to Rs 10,000 by the Centre, Ramesh said.
Noting that there was a need to bring about a change in the mindset of people, he stressed that strong political will would also be essential to make the country open-defecation free.
He said, "Sikkim has become the first state in the country which is now open-defecation free. By November, Kerala will become open-defecation free, thereafter Himachal Pradesh will in March 2013".
Though Haryana was on course to have sanitation facilities by March 2015, Ramesh said that only two per cent of Gram Panchayats in Punjab have them.
He further said that an MoU would soon be signed with DRDO to have 50,000 bio-digester to facilitate proper sanitation facilities and 1,000 Gram Panchayats would be selected in first phase to set up bio-digester based toilets






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" A Big Challenge For India To Achieve MDG's Goal On Sanitation "

India will achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on Sanitation only by 2054 .

Some state such as Madhya Pradesh & Orissa will reach the target in 2105 & 2160 means Next Century ! 

"Unhygienic Condition of Toilets " 

According to JMPWSS report which track the progress on drinking water and sanitation status that 17 states had already achieved the MDG target .

In India 51% or 626 million people in the country defecate in the Open , accounting 60% of the worlds total open defecation 

we achieved some good results on safe drinking water but it is limited to some section of people .

In Rural areas ,91% had no access to sanitation in 1990as against 67% in 2010 . 

In rural areas rich had more access to sanitation as compared to economically poor & dalit section of society which had less access to safe drinking water and sanitation .

4 out of 10 people whi have gained access to improved sanitation since 1990 lives in china or India .

About 2.5 billion people without improved sanitation too live in these two countries .

A Recent world bank report indicate that economic impact of Inadequate Sanitation in India in 2006 was Rs1.7 trillion and in 2010 Rs 2.4 trillion .

An app to fight sanitation problems

Six teams of IT experts and professors supported by the Water and Sanitation Program presented mobile applications or 'Apps' that can help support consumers and governments surmounting the water and sanitation problems in India. The event took place at Vigyan Bhawan on Tuesday.

The prototypes were presented to private firms such as Nokia, Vodafone and Accenture.

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The waterhackthon event is one of many promoted by the World Bank and its partners. Its aim is to promote the use of ICT tools in solving water issues. The project has come up with suggested solutions that are beyond the imagination of most people.

Each of the six teams made their presentations and also emphasized the importance of serving the poor and making the applications simple to use.

For example, Team PeeQ demonstrated their application that helps mobile phone users to help locate the closest public loo.

US-based Tribal Technologies demonstrated how schools in Orissa have been provided with a cheap android phone that records students school attendance data and gives them points for attendance.

Parents, in turn, can redeem these points for food like dal and rice.

During the event, the government presented its latest mobile initiatives in e-governance and mobile technology.

Participants noted that mobile technology is just one aspect of e-governance, and data on water quality and sanitation should be made available to people openly.

"For hackers, this is a great opportunity to get information about government initiatives, like the government app store and other interactive ways to participate in better water supply and sanitation," said Yashas Shetty of the hacking team Jugaad Sensors.

"One aspect slowing down development of e-governance is the current procurement process, which is not flexible enough for new inventions," claimed Partha Sarthi Sen Sharma, Director of the Uttar Pradesh-based Midday Meal Authority.

"We already have the prototypes. We have the private sector to help us create a market for the solutions. And, we have the Government of India hungry for mobile solutions. Now, we are finally all gathered around the same table. So, this is a good start for discussions," said Shetty, whose team has created a kit for water quality testing and monitoring.

Source:- http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-21/computing/31082344_1_mobile-solutions-mobile-applications-e-governance

(Six teams of IT experts and professors supported by the Water and Sanitation Program presented mobile applications or 'Apps'.)