An important aspect of any society is sanitation and hygiene. But the sad interpretation of hygiene in the Indian context is keeping one's own house clean at the cost of neighbourhood. Sadly, this also means seeking nature's surroundings to answer the call of nature. Even if this means that nearly half the populace (read womenfolk) has to get up at an unearthly hour in the morning or wait until dark in the evening to relieve itself. But a few states have woken up to the realisation that defecation in the open is unhealthy and uncivilised. Haryana is among the states that have taken a lead in making its villages completely 'open defecation free', and as the next step, 'nirmal grams'.
Giving leadership and vital push to the drive is additional deputy commissioner Sumedha Kataria, who has made it her life's mission to improve hygiene conditions in villages and to improve living conditions of women through these means. Ever since she took charge in April 2008, she has invested a great amount of time and energy in this drive. Kataria did her postgraduation in English literature from Panjab University, Chandigarh, in 1982, and taught there for seven years before she entered administrative work. Even as a lecturer, her work with NSS had got her involved in team-building measures, when, for example, she had initiated a drive against polythene. But when she became a block development officer in 1989, a work which required work in villages, lack of toilet facilities made her realise that that was a priority area. She entered the Haryana state services in 1992, with sanitation as her motto. "I have associated self-respect and self esteem, besides health, with this movement," tells Kataria.
The modus operandi in the 'open defecation free' drive is to shame people into constructing a toilet at home, rather than to extend largesse for construction. For this purpose, swachchhata committees have been formed, whose volunteers undertake patrolling of villages early morning and late nights, looking for violators with sticks and torches in hand. "To be able to go out at four in the morning in winters, given the fog, is not an easy job. But the volunteers do it regularly." Add to this the task involved, of shaming the violator, and you can understand the enormity of the situation. But despite the opposition from several quarters in changing centuries-long practice, the drive has met with great success and the district now has 94 per cent coverage in terms of toilet construction. Residents of 400 out of 418 villages have stopped defecating in the open. As such, 110 villages have been declared 'Nirmal Grams'. The women have come out in full support, and so have children, who have become swachchhata sainiks, and organise cleanliness rallies.
Extending support in this drive is the OP Jindal Jan Kalyan Sansthan, named after late OP Jindal, and Feedback Ventures, which has expertise in community-led-total sanitation. Both these organisations have contributed immensely to toilet construction, the former by providing material, and the latter by training the villages in total sanitation. Subroto Palit of Feedback Ventures, while addressing the villagers, uses rather shock therapy language to bring home the point. Linking the need of construction of toilets to self-respect, he says only when an individual works for his self-respect will he attain that self-respect. Later, describing how an effective drainage system can be built, he says the toilets are being connected to a one-meter-deep pit, which takes 14 years to fill, because the soil absorbs the water content. After that, the waste can be used as manure.
A visit to these villages and interaction with the villagers amply proves the excitement of the villagers. Sudesh Saini, Sarpanch of Chibba village, claims it has been a big victory to change the perception of villagers that constructing a toilet at home will be unhygienic. Khajaani Devi and Sharvan Kumar of Jitan enthusiastically describe how they spread the awareness door to door about the construction of toilets and use of soap, and actually cleaned toilets, using acid. As we talk to each member of Swachchhata Committee, the numbers swell, with each worker having so much to share!
While the district is nearly ODF, villagers realise there's no scope for complacency. They are ready to continue their early morning and night vigils. Not just that, Kataria is keen to extend the movement to include solid waste management, as the logical next step. Already, model projects have started in two villages. With such a clean sweep, Kurukshetra, hitherto known as ground zero of Mahabharata, is now ground zero in the war against filth.
|