20,000 BPL Rural Families of Rajasthan to get House-hold Toilets

Vedanta Hindustan Zinc join hands with Rajasthan Government under Total Sanitation Campaign

Under the “Mukhya Mantri Gramin BPL Awas Yojana”, Vedanta Hindustan Zinc has joined hands with the Rajasthan Government to construct house-hold toilets for 20,000 BPL families in Rajasthan. An MoU in this regard was signed between the company and the State Government.

This project of constructing toilets is being undertaken with an aim to provide clean and hygienic house-hold toilets to BPL families and discourage and eventually eradicate open defecation practices in the villages. The project is also expected to improve the good hygiene practices and create awareness towards Health & Sanitation.

Lack of Toilets in rural areas for women and girls have always been a matter of concern. Toilet in each house-hold gives dignified lives to the rural families and also provides comfort, convenience with a sense of security and safety to each member of the house, particularly women and the girls.

As per the UNICEF report only 48% of rural Indian population has access to good toilet and sanitation facilities. There is a direct link that exists between health & sanitation and human well-being. When about 50% of Indian population defecates in open it leads to improper disposal of the waste, sanitation issues and causes of many harmful diseases. In Rajasthan alone, 60% of population defecates in open.

Initially, these toilets will be constructed in 3 Panchayat Samities of Bhilwara and Chittorgarh districts and the project will be completed in 3 phases in 3 years time with an estimated cost of about Rs. 2.5 crore.

The project is also aligned with centrally sponsored, 'Total Sanitation Campaign', a comprehensive program to ensure sanitation facilities in rural areas.

Hindustan Zinc, a Vedanta group company in Zinc-Lead-Silver has in the past also undertaken construction of toilets in rural areas under its CSR project and has constructed nearly 1750 rural house-hold toilets in collaboration with DRDA-Total Sanitation Project.

The company is running a series of projects on education, health and nutrition in Rajasthan.