The responsibility for sanitation in Asia is fragmented over different agencies, and in most cases the priority given to sanitation is low. Therefore more leadership and political will is needed to make sure that organisational structures function, that plans with good intentions become a reality on the ground and that resources go to the right places. While leadership for sanitation is needed at all levels, it’s most urgent at sub national level, in districts and provinces, because it’s there where the actions take place.

New Delhi, Dec 15, 2011: The Union rural development ministry has decided to ape Planning Commission's discussion with states for annual finances to send a stronger message about Centre's authorship on welfare schemes, a move aimed at addressing the longstanding gripe of Congress that states were cornering all the credit.

New Delhi, Dec 15, 2011: Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) scheme has been dovetailed with Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) Programme with effect from 20th December, 2006 and the IAY beneficiary can avail fund available under that Programme for construction of a toilet with the IAY house. To ensure compliance of these instructions, a letter has been issued to the State Governments to make it mandatory that all IAY beneficiaries, if eligible, simultaneously are sanctioned one toilet each under TSC.

Jaipur, Nov 14: In Rajasthan only 40% of rural household have toilets and less than 13% of the population in the state have access to it.

Acting on this alarming situation, the state government has drafted a policy on rural sanitation and hygiene, a strategy for achieving the vision of " Nirmal Rajasthan" by 2015 and a "Swachh Rajasthan" by 2022.

Total sanitation is a basic building block in the process of fighting health hazards and poverty. It refers to hygienic practices of collection, removal, disposal or recycling of human excreta, garbage and waste water for protecting health and well being of the people and the environment .It also affects livelihood as productive work days of earning members are lost due to their sickness or to take care of sick members of the household, thus they get trapped into the vicious cycle of poverty.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has pledged to help improve sanitation in rural areas to curb outbreaks of diseases such as cholera. Unicef country representative Peter Salama made the pledge in a speech read on his behalf by the body’s chief of water and sanitation, Kiwe Sebunye, at the Global Handwashing Day in Budiriro recently.

VARANASI: A decade to the launch of Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) and the district is still lagging behind in providing proper sanitation. The practice of open defecation is still common, particularly in rural areas.

Government today informed that sanitation coverage in rural areas has increased to more than 73 percent as of July, 2011, which was only 21.9 percent as per the 2001 census. The Total Sanitation Campaign, TSC, launched by the government is operative in 607 rural districts of the country at present with the main goal of eradicating the practice of open defecation and ensuring clean environment. This was stated by Shri Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister for Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

Ranging from Re one to Rs 950, rural households in the country could have paid a whopping Rs 471.8 crore last year as bribe to avail basic facilities such as ration, health, education and water supply, says a study.
The ''India Corruption Study: 2010'' report prepared by Centre for Media Studies (CMS), a survey of 9,960 households in 12 states, says on an average a rural household could have paid Rs 164 as bribe for availing these facilities in a year.
The study said the total amount of Rs 471.8 crore is "equal or less" than the total expenditure made under MNREGA during 2010-11 in st

Recognizing the importance of Health in the process of economic and social development and improving the quality of life of our citizens, the Government of India has resolved to launch the National Rural Health Mission to carry out necessary architectural correction in the basic health care delivery system. The Mission adopts a synergistic approach by relating health to determinants of good health viz. segments of nutrition, sanitation, hygiene and safe drinking water. It also aims at mainstreaming the Indian systems of medicine to facilitate health care.