10,000 toilets to be built annually with microfinance in rural India

Monday, January 27, 2014

TRICHY: Open defecation is a shameful practice both for individuals and society at large. Lack of toilets forces people to resort to this unsanitary practice. Trichy district too is no stranger to the problem, though efforts are on to eliminate open defecation with 49,000 toilets having been built in rural parts of Trichy with microfinance. A regional level workshop on “microfinance for sanitation” held here on Wednesday discussed the project and set a target of 10,000 toilets to be built annually as there are many takers for small sanitation loans.

An NGO, Gramalaya, and a microfinance firm called Guardian have been implementing the sanitation project by providing financial loans to villagers to build toilets. They have also secured the support of government authorities to initiate the project.

The microfinance-based sanitation project was in fact launched in Trichy district in 2007. Under it a loan of Rs 10,000 is provided to villagers to build sanitation infrastructure. Already, several toilets have been built in Trichy making use of microfinance. In 2013 alone as many as 9,200 toilets were built in Lalgudi, Manapparai and Devadanam in Trichy, said Paul Sathianathan, the chief executive officer of Guardian. Data with Guardian indicates that at least 10,000 toilet seats could be installed every year.

Source: Times of India (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Health Care
Tags
microfinance, rural development