Chikmagalur: Government records have rubbished MP Shobha Karandlaje's claim that under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, 2 lakh toilets were built in her constituency in the span of five years.
Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, MP Shobha Karandlaje had recently tweeted, "2 lakh toilets have been built in the constituency under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in the last five years".
What is the reality?
Shobha tweeted: "#SwacchBharat is not just about cleanliness, but it is also a matter of pride for our women" Along with this, she posted a campaigning video saying, "70Years of Independence, it took this one man to respond! In Udupi-Chikmagalur only more than 2L toilets have been built. #ThankYou PM @narendramodi ji for this wonderful initiative!".
But, government statistics tell a different story.
Udupi
Udupi district was declared as the "Open Defecation Free District" in 2017. The official records of Udupi Zilla Panchayat have revealed that only 28,636 toilets were constructed in the district between 2013 and 2017. In Udupi, Kundapura, and Karkala taluks, there were 7685, 16262 and 4689 toilets required, respectively (according to the 2012 survey). In 2013-14, 3378, 5611 and 1680 toilets were constructed, respectively. The construction of 2777, 7393 and 1991 toilets was completed in 2014-15. Similarly, 1368, 2953 and 775 toilets were built in 2015-16, whereas 162, 305 and 243 toilets were constructed in 2016-17.
In all, the number of toilets built during this period was 28,636. (Brahmavara, Kapu, Byndoor and Hebri Taluks were announced on January 1, 2018).
Chikmagalur:
According to the records available at the Chikkamagaluru ZP office, only 69,418 toilets were constructed in Chikkamagaluru district from 2012 to 2018. What we need to note here is 'from 2012'. For this, Rs 7,192.71 lakh has been spent under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
According to Baseline Survey, after 2018, 6,615 families in Chikkamagaluru district were left out of the toilet facility. Of these, only 493 toilets were constructed between 2018 and March 2019, for which the fund of Rs 7.41 lakh has been used. 6,122 toilets are yet to be built in the district.
Nirmal Bharat-Swachh Bharat
ZP officials informed that the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was not implemented in 2012. Nirmala Bharat campaign was then in existence. Only, the name was changed to 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' for the same project. A total of 69,418 toilets were constructed in the district from 2012 to 2018 in the same fund.
This is not for the first time!
This is not the first time that MP Shobha Karandlaje is manipulating the information. Shobha Karandlaje had written a letter to the Union Home Minister demanding an NIA probe into the murders of Hindu / Sangh Parivar activists in the state. However, one man in Shobha's list of dead people was alive and employed while suicide and accident were the reason behind the death of some other people who were mentioned in the list.
Vartha Bharati has first exposed the reality behind the letter written by Shobha. Later she expressed regret for the same.
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Puducherry (PTI): Chief Minister and AINRC leader N Rangasamy was on course to retain his Thattanchavady Assembly constituency as counting of votes polled in the April 9 Puducherry Assembly elections was on across the UT.
At the end of four rounds of counting, which was the last one, the CM was ahead of his TVK-backed Neyyam Makkal Kazhagam candidate E Vinayakam by 4,441
votes, gaining an unassailable lead.
The veteran leader polled 10,024 while Vinayakam polled 5583 votes. Congress' Ve Vaithilingam polled 2990 votes, bracing for the fourth place after an independent.
This constituency is an important segment which drew the attention of political parties. Rangasamy has contested from two segments-Thattanchavady and Mangalam segments.
