Telangana not lagging behind in construction of toilets in rural areas, says Centre
Union Minister admitted that the funds released for Telangana in the 2020-21 financial year was only Rs 46.80 crore against the allocated Rs 215.30 crore
Hyderabad: The Centre on Thursday said Telangana was not lagging behind in the construction of toilets in rural areas, and that it was going on as per schedule under Swacch Bharat Mission (Grameen).
Replying to a question raised by Karimnagar BJP MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar in Lok Sabha on the status of construction of toilets in Telangana State, Jal Shakthi Minister Prahlad Singh Patil said all the villages in Telangana are Open Defecation Free (ODF), the benefits of which accrue to all the people in a village.
The Union Minister admitted that the funds released for Telangana in the 2020-21 financial year was only Rs 46.80 crore against the allocated Rs 215.30 crore. He also admitted that in the current financial year, till July 26, not a single rupee had been released from the Rs 180.66 crore allocated.
Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen is a demand-driven programme and State-wise and year-wise allocation of funds is not fixed under the programme. For implementation of the programme, each year, State governments submit their Annual Implementation Plans (AIPs) to the Union government. The AIPs are approved by the National Scheme Sanctioning Committee (NSSC) constituted for the purpose. The annual allocation of funds is made for States considering their AIPs. However, the funds are released subject to fulfillment of requisite conditions as per the programme guidelines and availability of funds, he said.
The Central government has been releasing funds to the State under the programme since 2014-15 financial year. The funds released during 2017-18, 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial year includes Performance Incentive Grants, which were released based on the results of National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) Rounds, for which no prior allocation was made.
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