COUNTERVIEW: Ahmedabad: Monday, January 15, 2018.
What will be
your reaction, if one fine morning you get to know that the toilet in your
house is listed to be built with the support of government subsidy, that too
under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category? What one might think as a silly
joke is a reality for the residents of Dhangadhra city in Surendranagar
district of Gujarat.
One of the
residents and Right to Information (RTI) activists, Saiyyad Imtiyaz, was
shocked when he saw that the list of beneficiaries of the toilet subsidy scheme
under the Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan has three names from his family. Imtiyaz's
family has been using toilets for years. These were built with his money.
Elected in Dhangadhra municipality, he has been actively filing RTI and using
the information he receives to improve the local governance system.
When he went
a little deeper, he was further shocked to see that the entire scheme had been
rotting with corruption, contracting and fake beneficiaries. “I do not know
from where to start, but Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan badly needs cleansing”, he told
RTI helpline run by Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP).
Over the
last five months, the RTI helpline has received more than 65 queries wherein
callers have reported following types of issues:
Where will
the shit go?
Citizens
genuinely need toilet and applied for the same. Initially, they were happy to
see that their names were listed as proposed beneficiaries. But soon they
learned that they must give account numbers and other details, including a
pre-signed cheque, as part of the procedure for applying.
After the
procedure is over, toilets are built by contractors with no soak pit, no
drainage line. Four walls, the pan and roof, that's all.
A
Panchamahals resident told RTI helpline: “There is no pit under the pan, where
will the shit go? We could have used it for storing grass, but the quality is
so poor, that in three months the cement is falling off." When queried,
Sarpanch Gordhanbhai told me, “Contracts are given to politically connected
persons and are decided at the higher level. In my village construction
material was dumped in the front of the house of an influental political
worker. Local contractors operated from there.”
The
situation, as reported on RTI hlpline, is not different elsewhere. In Sagtala
village of Devgadh Baria block of Dahod district, a whole block of toilet has
been built under Swachh Bharat Mission, but the drainage line is missing. The
caller wondered, "How can one build a toilet without either having soak
pit or a drainage line? This toilet unit has been constructed under the rural
job guarantee scheme, MGNREGA. Total waste of money, yet the government takes
pride of having such structures built all over."
Ghost/fake
beneficiaries
Swacch Bharat
Abhiyaan is one of the favourite programmes of the government and is monitored
by the Prime Minister's office, as also at the highest level in the state
capital. In order to complete the targets, the authorities must show a list of
beneficiaries. The gram sabha has to identify households without toilets. Forms
have to be filled and submitted along with documents. A person can build her or
his toilet, and partial support is given by government. However, according to
information received by us, more than 40% of toilets are either fake (they are
not built at all) or are old ones listed for getting government subsidy.
“The amount
government offers is so little that no one actually is motivated to build
toilets. There are complications about arrangement of drainage lines also.
Water availability is another big issue. However, we have to show some targets
completed every three months”, revealed a block official on condition of
anonymity.
Payments
delayed
Another type
of issue that is reported on the RTI helpline is that of delay in payments
after making a toilet. At many places, beneficiary households, who have made
their toilets themselves, are wait for payments with no end in sight. Payments
are often received through middlemen, in cash, that too after deducting Rs 500
to Rs 1,000.
Lack of
transparency and accountability
Block offices
keep getting complains of irregularities in the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan toilet
scheme. But hardly any action is taken. Dozens of RTIs have been filed to get
details of the scheme, procedure for selection of beneficiaries and the list.
Despite appeals, no information is furnished.
When asked
why is information not given, an RTI volunteer revealed, the Public Information
Officers of Banaskantha, Mehsana and Gandhinagar districts have been giving
strange replies: “Once list is given complaints will start”, or “The list is so
long that it will take some time to compile”, or "How can I given someone
else's name to third party unless I ask him?"
"As per
section 4(1)b of the RTI Act, and its manual numbers 11, 12, and 13, all the
details of budgets, expenses and list of beneficiaries must to be disclosed at
the local level on notice board, or on hoardings,” says Harinesh Pandya, a
senior RTI activist. “There is a huge nexus between politicians and officials,
and they keep shifting responsibility and blame each other. The government
should ensure that the list is put on the website. I hope the Information
Commission takes suo motu cognizance and asks government to do so,” he adds.
Amidst all
the dark clouds, there is a silver lining: Common citizens like Saiyyad
Imtiyaz, Gordhanbhai and others have not given up, despite the fact that they
were offered money and were pressurized. They have filed RTIs, made complaints,
sought payment sheets and engineer inspection certificates to dig out all the
shit that is hiding behind the implementation of Swacchh Bharat Abhiyaan.
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