CHENNAI: “Two years ago, an old lady was bitten by a snake when she went to the open fields to relieve herself. We have lived here for 40 years but there are still no toilets,” says Chenchemma, an Irular tribal in her mid-30s living in a remote village named Venkatapuram, 15 km from the heart of Tiruvallur.
The situation is no different in other hamlets of Tiruvallur, as well as in Chennai’s neighbouring districts Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram. Yet, these three districts are marked as having 100 per cent toilet coverage under the Union government’s Swacch Bharat Grameen scheme, which aims to build toilets and end open defecation. In fact, on paper, toilet coverage in Tamil Nadu is 100 per cent, with 48.67 lakh toilets having been built under the scheme since 2014.
However, a visit to at least 10 villages across the three districts near the capital showed open defecation remains common. Venkatapuram, for instance, has 28 families, but no functioning toilets. Building structures have been erected for toilets, but there are no basins, water supply, or underground sewer pipelines. The structures built are used by the tribals as store rooms, and a note on them says they were set up under the Swachh Bharat scheme.
Reality not so swachh in TN’s hinterland, tribal villages
Neelam, a tribal at Abdul Kalam Nagar in Tiruvallur, said open defecation is the norm as there are no toilets in the village. “There is no place to bathe with privacy either. We tie sarees on trees to cover us. When it rains, there’s nowhere we can go to relieve ourselves. We have to wait for the rain to stop,” she explains.
While the mere presence of a toilet building doesn’t translate to the use thereof, this is not taken into account by the data. It also don’t take into account the faulty or half-built toilets without any facilities. But, even in villages that don’t even have toilet buildings, Swachh Bharat data claim there are zero uncovered houses.
Some villages in Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts that have non-functioning or no toilets are Nelvali, Meyyur and Venbedu. The vulnerable population, mostly women and children, continues to suffer because of the lack of toilets.
Fifty-year-old Saroja, who lives in Chengalpattu’s Pazhaveli village, another tribal hamlet with about 38 families, said the Swachh Bharat scheme didn’t reach her hamlet. “We have to go to the forest to relieve ourselves, risking attacks by vermin. Strangers roam the woods at night, and our girls are afraid to go there as there is no light either,” Saroja said.
A bout 40 km away is Kanni Kovil Medu, another remote tribal hamlet with 30 families, located near the railway tracks. Here, the residents relieve themselves near a burial ground. The region has toilet structures built under the Swachh Bharat scheme, but here too, there are no basins, pipelines, or water supply. Most of these “toilets” are now store rooms. “Some contractor came and built them three years ago. We didn’t even know who he was or what the building was for,” said Valliammal, who is in her mid-50s.
She added that they can only relieve themselves late at night, as people from a dominant caste who live nearby don’t let them near the burial ground in the daytime. The story is no different, if not worse, in tribal hamlets in Kancheepuram.
Subsidy nowhere to be seen
In 2019, the then municipal administration minister SP Velumani received the Swachh Bharat award from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Tamil Nadu being the best State in terms of rural cleanliness. While the data of TN being an open-defecation free State remains faulty, beneficiaries of the Swachh Bharat Grameen scheme also pointed out that they haven’t received the Rs 12,000 subsidy from the Centre.
While the name of the scheme and the amount of subsidy is written on the structures of the toilets, the residents were kept in the dark about this by the local authorities, they say. “What subsidy? We didn’t get anything. Some contractor came, built toilets, and left,” said Valliammal, of Kanni Kovil Medu.
Some villagers were also forced by the local authorities to use their own money to set up toilets. These villagers borrowed money for it but never received the subsidy.
Tribal rights activists, who follow these issues closely, alleged the subsidy amount is sent to Tamil Nadu by the Union government, but it is the block and panchayat-level officers who keep it from the beneficiaries.
“The intention of the Swachh Bharat scheme is good, but the implementation is faulty. The money reaches the district Collectorate and is also shared to the Panchayat Level Federation. But from there, it doesn’t reach the people,” said M Thamilarasan, Tiruvallur district secretary of the State Tribal Association.
For example, in many villages that Express visited, a structure is just built with bricks, and the labour charges would be a maximum of Rs 3,000. The structures don’t have pipes, water supply, or basins. So a question arises as to where the remaining amount of Rs 9,000 goes from the Swacch Bharat subsidy amount.
Thamilarasan said the Panchayat Level Federation (PLF) is responsible to call for tenders and set up toilets, but they outsource the work to third parties and take a profit from the subsidy money by building faulty toilets for a lower cost.
KC Murugesan, a member of the State Tribal Association, said, “90 per cent of tribal villages in Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram lack toilets. Either they are faulty or there are none.” He said the government must conduct a thorough review on how the scheme was implemented, and a survey must be held on whether the people received the subsidy.
“Without toilets, people suffer due to a lack of security and privacy. This violates the fundamental rights of people. But the intention of the scheme is good. Corruption in the lower levels, during implementation, must be identified,” he said.
Meanwhile, social welfare activist Vanessa Peter, of the Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC), said housing and toilets must go hand-in-hand. “When people do not even have houses, how will a toilet alone serve the purpose? Secondly, there must be a system to ensure beneficiary participation in the implementation of the scheme,” said Vanessa.
She added that the delay in reimbursement of the payment under the scheme must be addressed and awareness programmes on sanitation and health must be held at rural level in Tamil Nadu. “When the payment for the scheme does not reach the people, it puts them in financial distress,” she said.
Where’d the money go?
Activists say block- and panchayat-level officers keep the subsidy amount from beneficiaries. The Panchayat Level Federation doesn’t call for tenders, but outsources the work and pockets a sum, they allege