NEW DELHI, Feb 8:
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh has sought the intervention of Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh for construction of exclusive toilets for women living in the border areas of Kathua district in the State of Jammu & Kashmir.
Dr. Jitendra Singh explained that following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement in his Independence Day address regarding setting up of exclusive toilets for women, he had approached the then Rural Development Minister Nitin Gadkari with the proposal that the work on women toilets should be taken on priority first in the villages along the border areas because, while in other places, women sometimes have the option to go outdoors for toilet during the night, in case of women living in border areas, due to continuous patrolling by security personnel, it is difficult to venture out for open toilet even during night hours. Frequent cross-border firing in the night hours further adds to the problem and makes open defecation risky, he added.
In other words, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, normally women living in villages go outdoors for defecation during night time for want of privacy during day time, but in case of border areas, even this small option is not available. Thus, the toilet constraints of the women living along the border get compounded and assume inhuman proportions, he observed.
He recalled that he had submitted a detailed proposal and project report dated August 19, 2014 to the Union Rural Development Ministry for construction of toilets and requested for appropriate orders to be issued for construction of Community Sanitary Complexes exclusively for women living in border areas of Kathua district under the Government’s Total Sanitation Campaign for villages. However, before the construction work could start, model code of conduct was announced in view of the State Assembly elections and the entire process got stalled, he added.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said, now he has taken up the issue afresh with the present Minister for Rural Development who has responded very positively and assured him of necessary action very soon.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said, he wanted to assure the people living in the border areas, particularly women folk, that he will personally follow this issue in right earnest and ensure that needful is done at the earliest.
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