Rajya Sabha MP and Former BJP Delhi President Shri Vijay Goel today inaugurated the International Toilet Festival at Central Park, Connaught Place.
The festival being organized by Sulabh International aims to create awareness about the importance of toilet. The highlight of the opening ceremony was the convergence of 1,000 students from six countries forming a human chain and Walkathon carrying toilet pot on their head as part of pledge for "Toilet for All by 2019".
Shri Goel said, “Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak and his team at Sulabh International have done commendable work in the field of health and sanitation and have impacted the lives of millions of people, efforts of such noble people and organizations will help us achieve our dream of Clean India.”
On this occasion Shri Vijay Goel said, “It is shocking to know that close to 48% of India’s urban population and about 60% of rural population has no access to toilets which means that more than 620 million people in India defecate in the open.”
“One of the important aspects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swacch Bharat Abhiyan is toilet for every household by 2019. By this method, we not only prevent open defecation but will prevent exposure to fecal matter is a leading cause of diarrhea, which kills 600,000 people in the country each year, a third of them children”, said Goel.
Shri Goel said, “For the financial year 2014 – 15, companies are expected to collectively pump in as much as Rs 14000 crore for CSR. Companies can be a part of this endeavour by building toilets for girls in government school.”
Shri Goel said, “I recently visited Taseeng village in Behror district of Rajasthan for village adoption under Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. It was appalling to see that in a village of 500 households; only 10% of them have access to toilets in their homes.
To support this endeavour, water supply and waste management, sewage treatment and building proper drainage systems also needs to be strengthened for successful implementation of this initiative.
