Reports raise a stink over plan panel’s Rs35-lakh toilet renovation

Yojana Bhavan, the seat of India's Planning Commission, never ceases to create controversies. This time, however, it is over an alleged Rs35-lakh spent on repairing a toilet block attached to the building.

The plan panel, however, termed the controversy over the ''routine expenditure'' on maintenance and upgradation work as "unfortunate".

''It is unfortunate that what is routine maintenance and upgradation is being projected as wasteful expenditure. The toilets being repaired or renovated are public toilet blocks, and not private toilets for senior officials or members. While the amount of Rs30 lakh being mentioned is correct, an impression is being created that this has been spent on two toilets,'' the commission stated.

The Yojana Bhavan statement said the statement was totally false because these toilet blocks have multiple seats in addition to separate facility for the differently abled. Each of these blocks can be simultaneously used by approximately ten people, it added.

"An access-control system was initially tried'' because there have been instances of pilferages in the newly constructed toilets, '' but not found feasible in practice," the commission said in an RTI reply, adding, the smart card-based access control system had cost over Rs5 lakh for two toilets, which were renovated at an additional cost of Rs30 lakh.

Further, it said, ''Yojana Bhawan is more than fifty years old. The plumbing and sewerage systems have deteriorated causing leakages that tend to damage the structure itself.''