Chhattisgarh: Locals in Basera Khurd village forced to defecate in open

People at Basera Khurd village in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur are forced to defecate in the open as toilets approved under a government scheme have not yet been built in the region.

"We are forced to defecate in open as there are no facilities provided to us. There are young girls, widows, old persons too. We feel scared to go out in open," a local said.

This comes at a time when WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) report recently highlighted that as much as 43 per cent of Indians have gained access to basic sanitation, while the practice of open defecation has decreased by 47 per cent in the country between 2000 and 2017.

"We males feel embarrassed too when we see our sisters and mother go out in open to defecate. There is not even a single washroom here," said another local.

When asked about this, Panchayat CEO, Mahendra Singh said, "In 2015-16, construction of toilets was approved by the government. An Inquiry will be conducted and action will be taken".

On July 5, while presenting the Union Budget 2019-20 in Lok Sabha, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that India will be made open-defecation free (ODF) by October 2, 2019.

"I am happy and satisfied to report that India will be made Open Defecation Free on October 2nd, 2019, as per the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Sitharaman had said.