The Central government has allocated Rs 92.13 crore for Meghalaya during 2022-23 to construct individual household toilets in rural areas under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen).
The Ministry of Jal Shakti which is responsible for implementation of the scheme has released Rs 16.57 crore to the State during 2022-23. The expenditure reported by the State in implementation of the scheme was Rs 29.37 crore.
The number of individual household toilets constructed in Meghalaya has also increased in the last three years.
In 2019-20, as many as 9835 individual household toilets have been constructed while in 2020-21, the number grew up to 31,263. In 2021-21, there were 29,732 individual household toilets that have been constructed in the State.
Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) was launched in 2014 by the Ministry of Jal Shakti to accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage and to put focus on sanitation. The mission was implemented as a nation-wide campaign aimed at eliminating open defecation in rural areas.
The government made a provision of Rs 12,000 per toilet as financial incentive for promoting the toilet construction and its usage.