Taking a dig at the government’s
spending policy, Minister for Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation Jairam
Ramesh on Thursday said that more than 1000 villages in the country can be
freed of the scourge of open defecation at the cost of less than a Rafale fighter
jet.
Ramesh’s latest comment came on the sidelines of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and his ministry for eco-friendly toilets based on bio-digesters. These bio-toilets will be installed across the country in three phases and Ramesh’s ministry has allocated Rs. 150 crore for each of the phases, which is less than the cost of one French Rafale jet that the Indian Air Force (IAF) has chosen for its inventory. The IAF will be buying 126 of these fighter jets at an estimated cost of Rs. 50,000 crore that makes cost of one Rafale to be roughly around Rs. 450 crore, the cost of all three phases.
Ramesh described India as world capital in ‘Open Defecation’
with 60 percent of total open defecation happening in the country. “We can make
1000 villages free from open defecation at the cost less than that of one
Rafale,” Ramesh said while setting the target of making country free from the
problem in the next 10 years.
Even as Defence Minister AK Antony was present at the
function, Ramesh went on to say that while total spending on the defence is
more that Rs 1.93 lakh crore, while the budgetary support for his Rural Development
Ministry is half of it.
Talking about DRDO’s contribution to the sanitation drive,
Defence Minister AK Antony commented: “Seventy per cent of the people in India
reside in rural areas and are deprived of proper sanitation facilities.
Bio-Digester which is a spin-off from the DRDO technology is now being
intelligently implemented for societal benefit. This technology is not just
eco-friendly but is also cost effective and DRDO will try to further reduce the
cost.”
Bio-Digesters were developed as DRDO’s efforts to make eco-friendly
toilets for high-altitude regions like Siachen Glacier so that the long
deployment of the troops does not affect the environment. The high altitude eco-friendly
toilet cost around Rs. 2.2 lakh but the toilets meant for mass use cost less
than Rs. 17,000.
Rural Development Ministry has also offered the Indian
Railways to install the DRDO-built bio-toilets in all new coaches and to share
half the cost of retrofitting existing 50,000 coaches in the next four to five
years. He informed that the whole project will cost about 500 crore rupees and
offered to share the burden on a 50-50 basis with the Railways.
In late 1950s and up to 1962, the general thought process was that the Army is a wasteful expenditure of resources that can be better utilized for development. We also had Generals like BM Kaul who were eager to please, and employed troop on construction work (constructive) rather than training (wasteful). The results were there for all to see in 1962. For a Union Cabinet Minister to make such statements is a dangerous portent indeed. And that too form one who seems to be amongst the more enlightened ones.
ReplyDeleteTHE EDUCATED MINISTER IS RIGHT. ARAFALE PILOT FLYING A 70 MILLION
ReplyDeleteJET WILL BE LIVING INA C GRADE ACCOMMODATION AT ONE OF THE AIRBASES EATING SUBSTANDARD FOOD WORRIED ABOUT HIS CHILDRENS SCHOOLING AND RETITREMENT DOWN AFEW YEARS. INANY CASE WHAT THE SYSTEM DID WAS OVER 800MIG ACCIDENTS AND A COMPUTER SIMULATION BE DONE TO SEE HOW MANY RAFALLES WILL GO DOWN BECAUSE OF POOR MAINTANCE AND LACK OF SPARES OR SUBSTANDARD ONES PURCHASED BUE TO KICKBACKS. THE MONEY LOST MAY WELL BE SPENT ON EDUCATION, HEALTH SANITATION CHILD NUTRITION HEALTH WHICH INDIA NEEDS URGENTLY