MARGAO
Questioning the government’s decision to charge citizens for toilets, the Aquem-Baixo village panchayat has made a strong plea to government to provide toilets free of cost to the people.
Flanked by panchayat members, Aquem-Baixo Sarpanch Siddesh Bhagat said the panchayat is strongly opposed to the payment of money by citizens for toilets. “The government has initiated a good exercise to build 60,000 toilets across the state to free Goa of open defecation,” he said, but added “it would have been beneficial if the toilets were provided free of cost.”
Bhagat took exception to the condition that the money towards the toilets will be adjusted from the Griha Aadhar scheme and the DSS if the beneficiary fails to deposit the cash with the forms. “The schemes of DSS and Griha Aadhar are provided to the citizens to support them and it is surprising that the government intends to take back the money,” he said.
Moreover, the Sarpanch feared that citizens may flood the panchayat bodies if the same are not maintained properly since the scheme is being implemented through the local bodies. “When tax is collected by the government to support the Swachh Bharat mission, is the government justified to charge money from the people to provide them sanitation?” he asked.
