Kerala: On the occasion of 60th Kerala formation day, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared rural Kerala as open defecation free. After Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh, Kerala is the third state to have accomplished this feat.
Minister for local self-government K T Jaleel said that the state had created close to 1, 74, 720 toilets in the rural areas in a span of four months. “It was a silent revolution in the state and Rs 300 crore was spent on the project,” he said, “the toilets were built in collaboration with Suchithwa Mission, Jalanidhi, local bodies, Kudumbashree and many other non-governmental organisations.”
Pinarayi Vijayan, while declaring rural Kerala as open defecation free said: “By January this will be extended to the urban areas also.”
Pinarayi also added he will bring to the notice of central government one major problem state government encounters while tackling open defecation. “When people use the toilet on trains running throughout the state, it is same as open defecation and we will bring this to centre’s notice,” he said, “unless this issue is sorted, cent percent results cannot be achieved even if we have toilets everywhere in urban and rural areas.”
Pinarayi also said that the state could achieve this target in a very short period because of the existing conditions in the state. “When I had a meeting with PM Modi four months ago, the national average on toilet availability was about 54 percent, whereas in Kerala it was 96 percent. By January we will declare the urban areas as open defecation free,” he said.
The chief minister also emphasised if the needs of migrant labourers were not taken care of, the claims will fall flat. “The government intervention alone will not achieve desired results, people's participation is necessary,” he said.
On the condition of rains and water resources in Kerala, Pinarayi said: “We are in a very bad shape and our aim is to reclaim ponds, lakes, rivers and other water sources.”
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