-The Hindu In a bid to banish the spectre of open defecation within a decade, the government has increased its spending on toilets for rural areas, hiking the amount to be spent for a household latrine from the existing Rs.4,600 to Rs.10,000. On Thursday, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the increased allocation for the Total Sanitation Campaign — now renamed the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) — from Rs.1,500 crore in...
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Taking the stink out of city Sanitation-Kalpana Sharma
In South Mumbai's upscale Malabar Hill, a neighbourhood of 6,000 people share 52 toilets, 26 for men and 26 for women. That works out to around 115 people per toilet. Nearby live some of the oldest and richest families of the city with homes where one person may have a choice of many toilets. But this is Simla Nagar, where 720 households are precariously perched on a not so wealthy slope...
More »Not flush with ideas
-The Hindustan Times People may say all sorts of things about the Planning Commission of India and its five-year plans and the catchy terminologies it comes up with (of course, with a little help from the government in power). But there is no getting away from the fact that the body knows how to plan well, at least when it comes to its own needs. According to a news report, the panel...
More »APJ Abdul Kalam’s scheme to bridge urban-rural divide set to take off
-The Times of India Missile man APJ Abdul Kalam's vision of bridging the urban-rural divide through a new scheme is set to take off, with the Planning Commission agreeing to allocate Rs 1,500 crore in the 12th five-year plan and the Centre likely to start 15 projects this year. The Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) would target development in 'census towns' by undertaking key activities like Sanitation, water supply,...
More »To fight malnutrition, fund new toilets, Jairam tells PM
-The Hindu Emphasising the medically proven links between malnutrition and Sanitation, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his support in sustaining a hike in the 12th Five Year Plan's allocation for drinking water and Sanitation. In his letter, Mr. Ramesh has referenced a 2009 article from medical journal The Lancet , which shows that a key cause of child undernutrition is a sub-clinical disorder...
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