Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be strongly pitching for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, but the sanitation conditions in rural Maharashtra present a horrific reality. About 56 lakh households in rural Maharashtra have no toilets, admitted the water supply and sanitation minister Babanrao Lonikar. “We are trying to build toilets in 56,91,960 households by 2019 under the Swachh Bharat Mission. An incentive of Rs 12,000 is given to build toilets under the mission,” Mr Lonikar said in a written answer given to the Legislative Council last week. The Centre is funding Rs 9,000 and the state Rs 3,000 per toilet. The aim is to complete 10 lakh toilets every year. NCP MLC Niranjan Dawkhare asked him about the plight of rural sanitation. Mr Dawkhare also alleged that the eight lakh toilets that the government is claiming to have built are only on paper. He even alleged that there was corruption in building toilets and demanded an explanation. Replying to the question, Mr Lonikar said as per 2012 survey, 65,15,718 families had no toilets in the state. “After the survey, the government built 5,59,042 toilets in 2013-14 and 2,64,716 in 2014-15. There is no misuse of the funds while constructing the toilets,” he added. The government is also going to appoint cleanliness ambassadors or ‘swachchh doots’ in each village, who would be paid honorariums for constructing toilets in rural belts. The government has made available Rs 490 crore in the budget under the Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan to provide rural areas with sanitation.