Bihar sets 2019 as target to free the state from open defecation

The Bihar government on Thursday admitted it has fallen way behind its target of constructing toilets and said a road map was being prepared to make the state free from open defecation by 2019.

Against a target of constructing 12,12,716 toilets in 2013-14, only 1,61,646 toilets could be built in the state, Public Health Engineering Department minister Mahachandra Prasad Singh said in reply to an inquiry of JD(U)'s Izhar Ahmad.

Singh attributed Centre's low release of money under the MGNREGA scheme to the state as a major reason for failing to fulfil the target.

Opposition BJP blamed former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who was in-charge of the department when the target of building toilets fell short.

Singh said considering the importance of the subject, the department was preparing a road map to make Bihar free of open defecation by 2019, well before Centre's target of 2022.

The road map would be put into practice from October 2 on the occasion of Gandhi Jyanti, he said.