Gadag : Speaker of the Karnataka legislative assembly GS Patil said constructing toilets and declaring the country open-defecation free was insufficient without ensuring their use. Five gram panchayats in his constituency would be transformed on a pilot basis, he said in Ron.
Feedback Foundation chairperson Ajay Sinha said toilets in many households had become storehouses for firewood and grain. many men continued to defecate in fields, endangering village health, he said While women used toilets. Gadag Zilla Panchayat chief executive officer Mukul Jain said a house-to-house survey would be conducted in the five gram panchayats selected by Feedback Foundation and SR Patil Foundation.
Unused, incomplete and damaged toilets would be identified and repaired within a strict timeframe. The workshop was attended by Karnataka State Decentralisation Planning and Development Committee vice-chairperson DR Patil, Zilla Panchayat project director MV Chalageri, taluk panchayat executive officers, gram panchayat leaders, Asha and Anganwadi workers and self-help group members.