Patna, Hajipur, Begusarai, Darbhanga: Had the execution of the government’s flagship programmes—the Ayushman Bharat and individual household latrines under the Swachh Bharat Mission—been more robust than it is now, the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government would have been in a very strong position in the state.
A majority of voters across several districts, cutting across different castes, with whom The Sunday Guardian spoke said that they had received cooking gas cylinders under the Ujjwala scheme, but the government had failed to properly execute the construction of latrines and enrolling people under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
Interestingly, when The Sunday Guardian visited the website of Swachh Bharat Mission that had figures of the toilet coverage in the states, the figures maintained by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, which is the nodal ministry for executing the scheme, stated that Bihar has already achieved 100% toilet coverage. However, the facts on the ground are vastly different.
In rural Darbhanga, a row erupted over two groups of villagers after The Sunday Guardian asked them whether toilets have been constructed in their village. While one group said that toilets had been constructed in all the households under the scheme in which the government gives Rs 12,000 for construction of toilets, the other group said that many of the houses were still without toilets despite people applying for one.
Santosh Singh, a 27-year-old youth, said: “Local officials demand a cut of Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 for passing the proposal. Those local youths who have been employed for geo-tagging the location at which the toilets are to be built are not paid Rs 100 which should be given to them and they have to run after officials multiple times. That is why people have now stopped applying.
Once a local team of officials came and said our village has become Open Defecation Free (ODF); we showed them around the multiple houses that still do not have toilets.” Santosh Singh’s views were seconded by many others who were sitting around. According to locals in Hajipur, the only thing that has been swiftly executed is the Ujjawala scheme. “We do not have the Ayushman Bharat card. The officials demand BPL cards for enrolment in the scheme and many people still do not have the BPL card. Months ago, a camp was set up for only seven hours for people to enrol in the scheme. Ever since that, no one has come to seek enrolment. But yes, we have got cylinders, there is no problem with that,” said Reena Pasi, 25, who works as a house help in the city.
She also said that no toilets were built in her village and she was not even aware of such a scheme.
At the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH), Patna, many patients who are in general wards—almost all of them from the EWS category—less than 30% had the Ayushman card, while almost all had heard about it.
Gopi, who is a mason, said: “We have called several times on the call center number 14555, but it is mostly unreachable. My daughter was hit by a truck and we have already spent whatever we can on her treatment. The hospital officials are saying that they cannot do anything more unless I buy medicines for which I do not have any money. When I inquired about the Ayushman Bharat card, they said nor my name, nor of my wife nor of my daughter is in the list of beneficiaries. They do not say anything further beyond this standard answer.” Neeraj Yadav, a resident of Masaurhi near Patna, said: “All the three schemes are good and had they been properly executed, they would have benefited us. However, due to corruption by local officials many of the intended beneficiaries have not been able to take benefits of the schemes. What can we do? We just hope things will improve.”