Not Just Rakhis, Sisters to get Toilets as ‘Raksha Bandhan’ Gift from Brothers

Not Just Rakhis, Sisters to get Toilets as ‘Raksha Bandhan’ Gift from Brothers

Belagavi: After toilet anthem and Toilet Ek Prem Katha, here is a toilet as a Rakhi [Raksha Bandhan] gift. If all goes as planned, girls in Belagavi district will get toilets as Rakhi gifts from their brothers. Raksha Bandhan symbolizes the love between brothers and sisters and assures the sisters of their brothers’ protection. From now on, these brothers will show that they care about the safety of their sisters by gifting them toilets and educating them about using toilets.

The Zilla Panchayat will facilitate the gift by funding the cost of construction. Gram panchayat officials will identify houses where sisters want to receive toilets as gifts on Raksha Bandhan. On the day of the festival, gram panchayat officials will organise a small function in the villages where all such eligible brothers and sisters will be asked to gather. The brothers will sign a document that will act as an application to build a toilet in their house. The sisters will tie Rakhis to their brothers and receive the applications. The scheme is applicable to married sisters too.

“We have a target of completing construction of over 75,000 toilets before October this year. We are utilising every opportunity that comes our way. Our target is one toilet for each household. There are around 5.5 lakh houses without toilets in the district. Of these, around 4.75 have built one. Over two lakh toilets were built in just one-and-a-half years. The district plans to end open defecation by Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 this year,” had said R. Ramachandran, Zilla Panchayat chief executive officer and in-charge Deputy Commissioner.

Belagavi Zilla Panchayat is also using the services of ASHAs and Anganwadi workers to motivate families to build toilets and use them. Around 3,700 ASHA workers and others are going around houses without toilets and speaking to residents. One of the biggest complaints against such programmes is that government agencies promote the construction of toilets, but not their usage.

Not just in Belgavi, even in Amethi, brothers in this district have lined up a different gift for their sisters this Raksha Bandhan – a toilet. To make the open defecation free campaign successful and create awareness about sanitation here, the Zila Swachchhata Samiti (district committee for sanitation) has started a programme “Anokhi Amethi Ka Anokha Bhai”.

854 persons from different blocks of the district have registered themselves as “brothers” with the district committee to gift a lavatory to their sisters on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

The lavatory will be constructed by the registered brothers with their own resources. Later, a lucky draw will be organised to give prizes to three participants. Cash prizes of up to Rs 50,000 and mobiles will be given to the winners. The construction of toilets will be checked and verified by a team of officials and the prizes will be given to lucky winners at a district-level programme. The district committee for sanitation includes the district magistrate, chief development officer and the DPRO.