Responding to news report over zero toilet construction in Nagaland and subsequent demand by ACAUT for clarification, Water Sanitation and Support Organisation (WSSO), PHED Nagaland, said the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India, had sanctioned Rs 2087.22 lakh for implementing Swacch Bharat Mission (Gramin) Programme in the State for the year 2014-15 on September 26, 2014.
In a clarification, WSSO director, K Ghushito Sumi, said no toilet could be constructed due to financial crunch faced by the State government as no fund was released to the department till February 2015.
As regards to procurement of commodes as alleged by ACAUT, the director said no supply order had been issued till date.
ACAUT had demanded clarification from the PHE Department following report published in The Indian Express which pointed out that Nagaland had constructed zero number of toilets. The Indian Express reported that Nagaland and Goa have constructed zero toilets out of 4.3 million toilets countrywide during 2014-15.
While demanding thorough probe on the issue, ACAUT had demanded the PHED to clarify on the amount sanctioned for the Centrally Sponsored Scheme during the financial year 2014-15.
If the report in the national media was true, ACAUT said “it indicated 100% non-implementation of the scheme with high possibility of large scale misappropriation of funds.”