All below poverty line (BPL) and above poverty line (APL) families in the rural areas will be provided latrines by March, 2012.
The state government has decided to set up a sanitation mission for the implementation of the scheme.
Chief secretary TK Mishra discussed the issue with the district collectors by video conferencing today. Though the Centre and the state government are providing Rs 1500 and Rs 750 respectively to every BPL family for setting up latrines, more than half of the BPL families in rural areas do not have latrines.
The district collectors were asked by the chief secretary to prepare an action plan so that all the 70 lakh BPL families in the state will have latrines by the targeted date. Panchayatiraj institutions, women self help groups and non-government organisations (NGOs) can be involved in the implementation of the scheme.
While Balasore district has achieved 77 percent of the target under the scheme so far, Nabarangpur and Kandhamal districts have achieved 19 percent of the target. So far, Rs 156 crore provided by the Centre for implementation of the scheme has remained unutilised. The chief secretary asked the district collectors to utilise the funds earmarked for the scheme.
The chief secretary also asked the district collectors to give priority on construction of latrines in government and aided schools and anganwadi centres.