Daijiworld Media Network - Puttur (SP)

Puttur, May 7: Dakshina Kannada district had been declared as open defecation free and was given an award for 100 percent toilet construction. Teams from different districts had visited different areas of the district six months back and conducted scrutiny. Still, the zilla panchayat has instructed for undertaking a fresh verification drive.

Toilet construction has been completed in 90 percent of cases and thye are being used properly in the district. Still the zilla panchayat wants a fresh survey with the coming together of 40-member-team which comprises gram panchayat village development officers, secretaries, 'Asha' workers, representatives of women self help groups, representatives of Nehru Youth Centres, volunteers etc.

Zilla panchayat chief executive officer, Dr Selvamani, has explained that the zilla panchayat needs to maintain an integrated account of toilets constructed under different schemes. He said that there is no information about how many toilets have been built in individual places. Therefore, he said, a circular was issued to form 40-member-team and conduct verification again.

These Open Defecation Free (ODF) teams have to survey 80 to 100 toilets every day and submit report. During the inspection, information should be pooled in prescribed format. These teams should have some members who have experience of having worked under Swachh Bharat Mission. The members of these teams would be paid honorarium as per the guidelines of Drinking Water and Sanitation ministry.

The instruction issued by the chief executive officer of the zilla panchayat to village development officers has created a fresh headache for the officials as they have to visit individual houses and register details once again even after winning an award.