Bihar plans to provide toilets to all families

The Bihar government plans to provide each family in the state with proper toilet facilities in the next five to six years, with the target of constructing more than ten million toilets.

"Every family would be provided a toilet in the state as the government's target is to construct over one crore toilets in next five years," Bihar Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey said here Thursday.

The PHED plans to construct 1.12 crore (11.2 million) toilets by 2015 to provide toilets to all, he said.

Choubey said that 17 lakh (1.7 million) toilets have already been constructed in last 43 months. "The number of toilets constructed in the state during the period 2005 to the first half of 2009 was much more than 753 toilets constructed during 2001-2004," he said.

The latest survey conducted by the PHED revealed that about 95.96 lakh (9.596 million) households, out of which 49.19 lakh (4.919 million) are from the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category still do not have toilets at their homes. 

The state government is offering a grant of Rs.1700 to every BPL family for adding toilets in their huts.