Sulabh, 13 other NGOs under scanner
6 July 2012 1:02 AM GMT
Sulabh International is among 14 NGOs whose work is under scrutiny in 22 districts of Uttar Pradesh where these agencies had constructed toilets under the Integrated Low Cost Sanitation [ILCS] project.
Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister Md Azam Khan told Millennium Post that the State Urban Development Agency [SUDA] has been asked to carry out the probe and submit the report directly to his office within two months’ time. ‘There are reports that these agencies have usurped public money and have not constructed even a single toilet,’ he said.
Last week, the SUDA had filed an FIR against four NGOs including Sulabh International for embezzlement of funds in construction of toilets under a ILCS scheme in Rampur district. The embezzled amount is estimated to be up to Rs 2.98 crore. The government has already suspended two SUDA officials.
‘As I belong to Rampur I have an idea of that city. Rs 3 crore was spent from government exchequer and not even Rs 3 was used in construction of toilets. The question is where this money has gone,’ the Urban Development Minister said.
He said that what happened in Rampur was the tip of the iceberg. ‘We have reports that in other districts too money was misused on the name of construction of toilets. The government is committed to bring all culprits to book,’ he said.
The probe in Rampur found that between 2009 and 2011, payments of Rs 9.09 crore were made to four NGOs for construction of 9,140 toilets. Of these, 6,156 toilets were constructed but the rest - 2,984 toilets, against which Rs 2.98 crore had been paid - did not exist.
Hints of a similar toilet scam are surfacing in the Panchayati Raj Department. This department was entrusted with the job to construct toilets under Total Sanitation Campaign, that was launched in Uttar Pradesh in collaboration with centre in 2002. In its report in May this year, TSC claims that 1.60 crore toilets were constructed on paper only.
The TSC was told that 82.5 per cent households have toilets but the data collected during Census shows that just 22 per cent households have toilets.
This shows the public money has been flushed away. Panchayati Raj Minister Balram Yadav said that majority of these toilets were constructed during the previous Mayawati regime. The government has launched a search for these missing toilets. The report is expected within a month’s time, he said.
FACT FILE
In Uttar Pradesh, almost 63 per cent people still defecate in open. The total number of households in Uttar Pradesh is 3,29,24,266. Of these, only 1,17,36, 853 have toilets, and 2,07,54,080 which is 63.03 per cent of the total number still defecate in the open. The percentage of people who defecate in the open is much higher [77.13 per cent] in rural areas compared to a 14.82 per cent in the cities.
Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister Md Azam Khan told Millennium Post that the State Urban Development Agency [SUDA] has been asked to carry out the probe and submit the report directly to his office within two months’ time. ‘There are reports that these agencies have usurped public money and have not constructed even a single toilet,’ he said.
Last week, the SUDA had filed an FIR against four NGOs including Sulabh International for embezzlement of funds in construction of toilets under a ILCS scheme in Rampur district. The embezzled amount is estimated to be up to Rs 2.98 crore. The government has already suspended two SUDA officials.
‘As I belong to Rampur I have an idea of that city. Rs 3 crore was spent from government exchequer and not even Rs 3 was used in construction of toilets. The question is where this money has gone,’ the Urban Development Minister said.
He said that what happened in Rampur was the tip of the iceberg. ‘We have reports that in other districts too money was misused on the name of construction of toilets. The government is committed to bring all culprits to book,’ he said.
The probe in Rampur found that between 2009 and 2011, payments of Rs 9.09 crore were made to four NGOs for construction of 9,140 toilets. Of these, 6,156 toilets were constructed but the rest - 2,984 toilets, against which Rs 2.98 crore had been paid - did not exist.
Hints of a similar toilet scam are surfacing in the Panchayati Raj Department. This department was entrusted with the job to construct toilets under Total Sanitation Campaign, that was launched in Uttar Pradesh in collaboration with centre in 2002. In its report in May this year, TSC claims that 1.60 crore toilets were constructed on paper only.
The TSC was told that 82.5 per cent households have toilets but the data collected during Census shows that just 22 per cent households have toilets.
This shows the public money has been flushed away. Panchayati Raj Minister Balram Yadav said that majority of these toilets were constructed during the previous Mayawati regime. The government has launched a search for these missing toilets. The report is expected within a month’s time, he said.
FACT FILE
In Uttar Pradesh, almost 63 per cent people still defecate in open. The total number of households in Uttar Pradesh is 3,29,24,266. Of these, only 1,17,36, 853 have toilets, and 2,07,54,080 which is 63.03 per cent of the total number still defecate in the open. The percentage of people who defecate in the open is much higher [77.13 per cent] in rural areas compared to a 14.82 per cent in the cities.
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