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8.5 lakh toilets in Bihar was easily doable: Government

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New Delhi, April 12 (IANS) Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim of Bihar constructing 8.5 lakh toilets in a week created widespread disbelief, the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation on Thursday shared its own calculation showing how it was “easily doable”.

“It has been reported by some media outlets that such a rate of progress is impossible based on the calculation of a ‘per day’ or ‘per minute’ rate of toilet construction, working backwards from these figures. This is an incorrect interpretation of the data,” the ministry said in a statement.

On Tuesday, at the culmination of Champaran centenary celebrations in Motihari, Modi said, “In the last one week, more than 850,000 toilets have been constructed in Bihar. This is a great achievement. I congratulate the people, the ‘Swachhagrahis’ and the state government for this.”

Many opposition leaders raised questions about its authenticity. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had tweeted a calculation from the figures that resulted in 84 toilets per minute. His tweet said: “Such a big goof-up from PM Sahab. I believe even CM Bihar won’t agree on such false claims.”

However, the ministry said there was an increased momentum in the campaign during the weeklong “Satyagraha se Swachhagraha” due to the 20,000 Swachhagrahis across the state and work did not go sequentially but was done parallelly across the 34,000-odd villages in Bihar.

It said though the state built 10.2 lakh toilets across its 38 districts between March 14 and April 10, “most of this activity was seen during the ‘Satyagraha se Swachhagraha’ campaign (April 3 to 10), wherein the focused activity by 20,000 Swachhagrahis across the state lent greater momentum to the campaign”.

“A twin pit toilet typically takes 3-4 days to construct, and this activity happened in parallel across approximately 34,000 villages in Bihar. Dividing the total toilets constructed in this period (March 14 – April 10) by the number of villages in Bihar, this works out to 1.1 toilet constructed per day per village, which is easily doable,” the ministry said.

“To calculate a ‘per minute’ rate of these toilets is therefore misleading, as it incorrectly assumes construction of all toilets in one village sequentially,” it said.

However, the ministry went on to add that the Bihar government is working on identifying any incomplete toilets after the pits were dug for them in the period of the campaign and is focusing on urgently completing them.

“Any misrepresentation of data on part of local administration will be strictly dealt with by the Bihar government,” it added.

–IANS
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Dr. Abhishek Verma Dedicates a Shelter in Memory of His Mother, Veena Verma, at KGMU; Inaugurated by Daughter Nicolle Verma

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World-renowned business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has supported Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission. In memory of his mother, Late Veena Verma, who was a 3 term Rajya Sabha MP.

Dr. Verma dedicated a state-of-the-art free permanent shelter for the attendants of patients at KGMU Medical University, Lucknow, under the aegis of Vijay Shree Foundation. His daughter, Nicolle Verma, inaugurated the shelter.

During the event, Foodman Vishal Singh honored Nicolle Verma by presenting her with a memento. Mrs. Nidhi Sharma and Avantika Yadav, associated with the organization, welcomed her with garlands. Following this, Nicolle Verma distributed essential items to the attendants and also handed out fruits. She became emotional remembering her grandmother on her birth anniversary.

On this occasion, she also inaugurated the “Veena Verma Sevalaya” in memory of her grandmother, Veena Verma, to serve the attendants. She expressed, “I feel proud that my family is engaged in nation-building as well as social service. Today, in collaboration with Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh Ji, I feel immensely proud to dedicate this shelter for the poor, helpless, and needy attendants of patients battling serious illnesses like cancer. I am honored to be associated with the Hunger-Free World Mission for humanity.”

Inspired by the continuous humanitarian service provided by Vijay Shree Foundation over the past 17 years, Nicolle Verma donated 10 lakh rupees to support the cause. The purpose of this donation is to ensure that services continue for the needy attendants of patients suffering from severe illnesses in hospitals, as facilitated by Foodman Vishal Singh.

It is noteworthy that Dr. Abhishek Verma’s family has a legacy of public and philanthropic service. They are helping millions to carry forward the values and service work of their parents. On the occasion of his mother’s birth anniversary, Dr. Abhishek Verma dedicated this state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College to serve the attendants of patients through the Vijay Shree Foundation.

Supporting Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission, Dr. Abhishek Verma assured that he would continually support keeping this flame of humanity alive. He also promised to assist in providing medicines to the helpless patients.

Continuing her grandmother’s legacy of service, Nicolle Verma personally served food to the needy patients and attendants. She said, “It is our good fortune to have received the joy of doing this noble work today through Foodman Vishal Singh. I have taken another step forward in carrying my family’s values and cooperation by joining hands with the Vijay Shree Foundation. My father taught me to serve and help the needy, and I feel happy when I bring a smile to someone’s face.”

On the birth anniversary of the late Veena Verma, the event organizer, Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh, said, “We feel proud and happy that Dr. Abhishek Verma, a globally renowned business tycoon, has extended his support to uplift our country from the hunger index. Today, on his mother’s birth anniversary, he inaugurated a state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College, which will always be helpful for the needy attendants of patients. It is a pleasure for me and the organization to receive the affection of Mr. Verma.”

The event was attended by General Manager Verma Family Office Hemant Garg, Sonu Rajput, and the organization’s volunteers, including Sandeep Singh, Parmeshwar Ji, Prashant Rao Gautam, Balram Singh, Ramesh Chaudhary, Suman, Jeetu, Anil, Suraj, Vinay, Manish Bhadauria, Manas Mehrotra, Vivek, Apurv, Happy, and others.

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