Coimbatore: The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)-Gramin website proclaimed that Tamil Nadu had built 41.79 lakh toilets as of Wednesday morning. But by evening, more than 6,000 toilets were added to the landscape of the state, taking the total number of toilets to 41.86 lakh.According to the data uploaded on the website, Tamil Nadu on an average had built 4,000 toilets per day for the past two years, trumping the national average of 1,700 toilets. If that data is startling, even more surprising is the fact that there is a sharp contrast between the numbers of households having a toilet and number of households using a toilet.According to the fourth edition of the National Family Health Survey 2015–16, which is the latest available data, nearly two out of five people do not use a proper toilet, and in all probability defecate in the open. The survey conducted by the Union ministry of health and family welfare says only 52.2% of households in Tamil Nadu are using a toilet. But according to SBM data, 63.85% households have toilets. There is a mismatch of more than 10% between the number of households having toilets and those that use one.Assuming that all households with toilets will naturally use them, the 10% increase in number of households with toilets under SBM could have been a jacked up figure to claim the grant given by the Centre pointing at a scam, say activists.The state government now claims that 95.03% of its population has individual household latrines and plans to achieve 100% open defecation-free state status in a few months’ time. But due to the mismatch in data, activists and politicians called for a thorough inspection of toilets and audit of data across the state.Politicians called this number unbelievable and sought a central government probe. BJP spokesperson Vanathi Srinivasan said in her native village near Thondamuthur, the scheme was not implemented properly. “Payments were not credited to the beneficiary’s accounts,” she said.DMK spokesperson T K S Elangovan said constructing 4,000 toilets every day was impossible. “If the state is providing false numbers and duping the funds, the central government should take action against officials,” he said.PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss said the state government officials have not implemented the project as per norms. “We will send our party men to all the villages and submit reports on the toilet scam,” he said.CPM leader G Ramakrishnan said this was loot of public money. “There should be an audit as this is a big scam,” he said.When contacted, senior state government officials said they were aware of some discrepancies in the implementation of the SBM scheme. “There are 385 blocks and more than 12,000 panchayats in the state. So it is possible to construct so many toilets in the past two years,” an official said.

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