State govt to build toilets for all women SHG members

Alipurduar: With August 15 as the target date, the state government will construct toilets in the homes of every member of all women self-help groups (SHG) in Alipurduar district who don’t currently have any. The work will be carried out by the Panchayat and Rural Development department of the state government.

According to sources from the Alipurduar district administration, the district regularly monitors that members of self-help groups have proper toilets in their homes.

Alipurduar district was previously declared open defecation free (ODF). There are over 26,000 self-help groups in the district, each with at least 10 members, involving more than two-and-a-half lakh women. While most of these families already have their own toilets, some still do not due to recent construction of new homes.

A few days ago, the district administration began a survey in the district’s six blocks to identify households without toilets. With three days left for the survey to be completed, over 225 SHGs have been identified whose members do not have toilets in their homes.

The number is expected to increase slightly once the survey is finished. After the survey, the construction of toilets will begin in the homes of the identified self-help group members, with all construction to be completed by August 15. District Magistrate R Vimala stated: “The entire work will be completed by August 15 by the Panchayat and Rural Development Department. Our goal is clear: after August 15, all SHG members in the district will have toilets in their homes.

The survey work is already underway and will continue for a few more days. We are confident that the toilets will be ready in everyone’s homes before the specified date.”