Centre's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan a farce: Maken

NEW DELHI: Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken on Saturday lashed out at Narendra Modi-led Central government's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, saying that it turned out to be jumla (farce) by the Prime Minister.

Maken said that the BJP-led government is spending crores of rupees on advertisements of Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, but is denying toilets in slum area of the national Capital.

Maken's reaction came after Saturday's development, wherein the Delhi High Court rebuked the Railways and Government of India for not implementing its earlier directions for providing pre-fab toilets to slum dwellers of Shakur Basti.

The direction comes after a petition was filed by Maken, seeking aid and relief to slum dwellers of Shakur Basti area.

Exulted by the order passed by the high court, Maken said it will come as a big relief to the more than 5,000 people residing in the slums of Shakur Basti.

Maken said that the BJP-AAP rule in the national Capital has been a period of extreme suffering, especially for slum dwellers, referring to the December 12, 2015 demolition drive carried in Shakur Basti, when a large part of the area was razed to ground.

The Congress leader said that there has been no provision of toilets in the slum area, since the demolition drive. "In fact, women and children are being forced to bathe and defecate in the open," Maken claimed.