Over 2000 toilet seats had been lying in the Salamatpur Panchayat school for 2 years instead of being installed.
A toilet scam has apparently been flourishing in Madhya Pradesh's Raisen district. This was the conclusion the state government came to, after disbursing nearly 1 crore over the last three years under the State's Samagra Swachta Abhiyaan, sources told NDTV.
On paper the district has 4000 toilets -- only a fraction of them can be found on the ground.
"The Sub Divisional Magistrate has served notices to 44 sarpanchs, ordering them either to get the job done or return the money," said JK Jain, Collector, Raisen. "If we find the scam is even bigger, we will even file a First Information Report and take action against the guilty."
For each new toilet to be built, the government pays Rs 4,600 through panchayats and Rs 4400 under MNREGA.
The raw material, meanwhile, are going begging. Over 2000 toilet seats had been lying in the Salamatpur Panchayat school for 2 years instead of being installed. After the alleged scam surfaced the seats were found to have been taken away.
Babulal Gaur, the minister In charge of the district, walked away in embarrassment when NDTV asked for his response.
Elsewhere, the work has finally started. Pits have been dug by Below Poverty Line (BPL) families with the hope that they would have a toilet in their houses soon. Though the work has now started, the villagers are still skeptical.
"The toilets that are being constructed right now are of sub-standard quality," said Asha Tiwari, a local. "The work has started just a week ago, although there are families who have been waiting for the toilets to be installed for years."
Others are not aware that they have the right to have a toilet at their home.
Mangal Singh, a villager, died at 70 last month and his dream of having a toilet in his house in Salamatpur remains unfulfilled.
Three years ago his house was selected under the Samagra swachta abhiyaan, a toilet was supposed to be built. And though no toilet was built, the panchayat records show it was built in 212 at a cost of Rs 9,000.
"I was not aware that as per the Panchayat's record a toilet was constructed in our house in 2012. But you can see for yourself, no toilet has been constructed. How can they say this? We face a lot of problems as there is not toilet in the house," said his wife Ganga Bai.