GANDHINAGAR: Though Gujarat claims to be the vanguard of Indian states working for the swachchta revolution championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has discovered an untidy record.

In its report, 'Local Bodies of Gujarat' - released on Tuesday and covering the period till year ending March 2013 - the CAG points out failures of the state in the execution of the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) sponsored by the Centre for the rural sector. More worrying, the CAG says that the Gujarat Government inflated its TSC achievements. Salient observations of the report:

SUCCESS EXAGGERATED

The CAG notes that the achievement of targets for Individual Household Latrines had been inflated - progress reports were generated on the basis of funds released to gram panchayats instead of the actual construction of toilets.

SOLID WASTE OF FUNDS

The CAG flags several defects in the municipal solid waste management system. The auditor says that that the twelfth Finance Commission funds were used for "inadmissible works and Rs 61.35 crore were utilized after the award period without the approval of the Government of India and incorrect utilization certificate was submitted." Since litter bins were not bought, Rs 2.41 crore was refunded to the Centre.

RESOURCES UNUSED

The CAG notes that expenditure against the available sanitation campaign funds ranged between 43% and 60% during 2008-13. Rural Sanitary Marts, meant to supply sanitation products from toilets to soaps, were not operational in any of the districts test-checked.

SANITATION STYMIED

According to a baseline survey, the CAG says sanitation coverage in the state was only 46%, which did not square with the reports of progress in constructing individual toilets issued by the state.

FAILURE AT ANGANWADIS

"More than 5,000 Anganwadi centers were without toilets," the report says. "Against the target of 40,439 school toilets to be completed by March 2012, only 36,438 were completed. The achievement against targets in Jamnagar and Porbandar districts were only 54% and 65% respectively."

HYGIENE MISSION IN DUMPS

The CAG says that out of 159 municipalities, 123 had no sanitary landfill facilities, which spurred these municipalities to dump waste in the open in violation of solid waste management rules.

MANUAL SCAVENGING PERSISTS

The CAG says "…though manual scavenging is prohibited under the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, cases of manual scavenging were reported in the state as per census 2011.''

