BANGALORE: The Department of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation has sought separate funding in the State Budget for promoting eco-friendly sanitation in rural areas.

Minister for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Govind M. Karjol suggested such funding while inaugurating a two-day State-level workshop on eco-friendly sanitation at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Energy and Development at Jakkur here on Monday.

Although the State can be proud of its achievements in the implementation of various rural development programmes, its achievement in the area of rural sanitation is discomfiting, the Minister said. It had plans to build 50 lakh eco-friendly toilets but could complete only two lakhs. Against the target of covering 37,000 schools and 23,000 anganwadi centres under the rural sanitation scheme, only 6,000 and 3,500 respectively could be provided with eco-friendly toilets. The achievement against the set target was just 4 per cent. The Government hopes to achieve 50 per cent of the target by March 2007 with the help of an exclusive fund of Rs. 200 crores and better infrastructure, Mr. Karjol said.

There is a dire need to educate rural people on various aspects of sanitation with an emphasis on the hygienic and civic need to shun the practice of defecating in the open. The Government is planning to involve officials, particularly from the departments of Horticulture and Agriculture, non-governmental organisations and schools and colleges for the purpose. School-going children can change the mindset of their elders in rural areas once they are taught the importance of using eco-friendly toilets as a matter of social responsibility and human dignity, he said.

`Attitudes must change'

The Secretary, Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, N. Shiva Shailam, said the progress in the implementation of rural sanitation schemes does not depend on the amount of subsidies or lack of awareness. The success of the schemes is solely dependent on the attitude of people. The achievement of the people of Hooghly district in West Bengal is a classic case in that context, he said.

Hooghly district, which was once notorious for its open defecation culture, is now rid of that practice. It has become a role model in the implementation rural sanitation schemes. It could achieve such a distinction only because of the change in the attitude of the people to the issue. The involvement of local body institutions holds the key for the effective implementation of sanitation schemes, he added.

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