sunita devi – a housewife, rani mistri and change …block officials including field staff, mnrega...

MINISTRY OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION

Inspired by the burning issues of women’s health and sanitation, Sunita Devi, a housewife, a mason and change maker led the campaign to bring everyone under the purview of Swachh Gaon (village). Most of all, she encouraged other women to identify their inherent skills and contribute to making their villages open defecation free (ODF).

For Sunita to have taken on the role of a facilitator, trainer and quality checker in operation and maintenance was a difficult task to say the least. This was because: traditionally construction activity was a male domain while women were considered merely as unskilled labourers to assist men in carrying bricks, cement and water. Under the circumstances, convincing women and members of SHGs (self-help groups) to get trained and work as masons called Rani Mistris was a huge challenge.

Taking matters in her stride, Sunita travelled to various villages to identify women wage labourers who actually worked in construction areas. Once that was done, she organized training to skill and equip them to construct toilets.

She eventually contributed to training approximately 1426 women as rani mistris and making 17 women-led ODF villages, efficiently leading women, providing the necessary supervision and administrative support. In a sense, she was a facilitator, trainer and a quality checker all in one.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CONTRIBUTION

Her contribution to the villages was a collective change process. She eagerly applied her learning in the field and mobilized communities to address the issues of health and sanitation. Being a self-motivated individual, she played a vital role in arranging material and providing necessary skills for quality construction. She provided mentoring support and dynamic leadership in the village women led ODF campaign.

SUNITA DEVI – A HOUSEWIFE, RANI MISTRI AND CHANGE MAKER

Find more inspiring stories about the people’s movement for an open defecation free nation at www.sbmgramin.wordpress.com



The district administration of Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka has launched the Swachha Gelathi (meaning Cleanliness friend) campaign, as a part of the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen to highlight the importance of menstrual hygiene management (MHM). As many as 1604 volunteer teams have been formed, their role being to visit government schools and counsel adolescent girls.

The campaign targeted at adolescent girls began with a workshop organised by the Zilla Panchayat (ZP) and the Departments of Health, Education and Children Welfare, at the ZP auditorium on 22nd June, 2018.

Speaking at the workshop, ZP Chief Executive Officer, Dr M R Ravi emphasized the importance of proper disposal of sanitary pads. He said that about 38% of the women who used sanitary pads disposed off their pads in an unscientific manner.

“Waste is our responsibility and our attitude towards disposal of sanitary napkins needs to change,” he said. Whether sanitary pads or cloth pads, they need to be disposed scientifically.

He pointed out that the government has provided incinerators at government schools and girls’ hostels – so that used sanitary pads could be burnt. He also called for girls and women to break the taboo on issues pertaining to menstruation, and speak out. “Menstrual health has to do with the dignity of women,” he stressed.

Volunteer teams comprising of NSS members visited schools to counsel adolescent girl students studying in government aided and non-aided schools on the subject of menstrual hygiene. As many as 1604 teams were formed in this regard.

1604 VOLUNTEER TEAMS TO COUNSEL ADOLESCENT GIRLS ON MHM



Having been declared open defecation free (ODF) on 27th February, 2018, Kanchipuram the silk weaving district of Tamil Nadu is now focusing on activities to sustain the status and move on to ODF plus. Over the last few months, the district has ensured that all their 9326 dysfunctional toilets have been made functional – to ensure there is no slippage.

A survey conducted in 2012 revealed 8326 dysfunctional toilets in all blocks of the district.A resurvey was carried out in October 2017. The exercise showed that about 5000 of the dysfunctional toilets were made functional by the beneficiaries themselves. Particularly in areas such as Kundrathur, St. Thomas Mount, Thiruporur, almost all toilets were repaired or rebuilt and are being used by beneficiaries. To verify the numbers, district officers cross verified 10% of the 5000, on a random basis and found them to be functional. Thereafter IMIS entries were made for 5000 toilets, listing them as functional.

As for the remaining 3326 toilets, they were found to be fully damaged. Those households were provided financial assistance through the local Self Help Groups who engaged private companies to construct new toilets for them. Such construction work was monitored by the SHG leaders and cluster facilitators.

KANCHIPURAM CONVERTS 8326 DYSFUNCTIONAL TOILETS INTO FUNCTIONAL



Abhanpur block of Raipur district in Chhattisgarh managed to build 10,000 toilets in 10 days during a special campaign held between 7th and 17th September, 2017. Union Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Textiles, Smt. Smriti Irani was there on the last day for the culmination of the event that incidentally fell on the birthday of Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi who has put Swachh Bharat Mission as one of the top flagship programmes of the country.

“We had to strike when the iron is hot,” explained CEO of the Janpat Panchayat, Abhanpur, Ms. Swechha Singh, explaining the circumstances that led to the campaign. Having engaged in multifarious activities to bring about positive behaviour change in the block including CLTS training and offering monetary incentives, the district officials had left their offices and took up residence amongst the people, in the villages to conduct triggering exercises over a period of 10 days.

“We had created the right environment and there was huge support from the community and district officials which was sufficient momentum for the toilet construction campaign,” she added.

According to her, the area located in the heart of the capital was initially very difficult to penetrate as it was politically very sensitive. As for the people, they were affluent and resourceful. However, with 2 crops every season, they were quite occupied and did not take interest in social causes. Hence, it was difficult to bring about behaviour change amongst them.

In the run up to the campaign, there was considerable focus on women, children and youth. The block officials including field staff, MNREGA workers, local leaders and PRI staff involved the community in various games, art and cultural activities, quizzes, nukkad naatak and other IEC activities including door to door visits, bike rallies, wall paintings and ratri chaupals. Further, targets were set and time bound monitoring was carried out.

HOW ABHANPUR PULLED OFF THE ‘10,000 TOILETS IN 10 DAYS’ CAMPAIGN


BY RAJEEV KUMAR, UNICEF

One of the many lectures that I attended across various disciplines of social sciences taught me an interesting phrase for achievement of any kind, in the sector. All achievement is always “in the Being” and not “Been”. And so, open defecation free (ODF) status must also be taken in that spirit of being and not been. It has been a tremendous journey for Bihar and Sitamarhi in the process of making the district ODF. This blog outlines what I know about the district, its campaign leaders- two District Magistrates and the campaign insights from the ground.

Demographics: Sitamarhi is among the top 100 districts in India in terms of population with 3.5 million people (Census 2011) and 3,89,592 households to be covered out of the total 5,11,987 households as per the baseline survey. The district has rivers crisscrossing across its geographical area, where perennial floods with water flowing from Nepal are common.

Leadership: The sector has interesting anecdotes on implementation of CLTS which is often referred to as Collector Led Total Sanitation opposed to its actual connotation of Community Led Total Sanitation. The campaign in Sitamarhi gives more evidence to strengthen this hypothesis. The campaign leadership at the district level has shown tremendous commitment to government’s engagement with the community. Mr. Rajiv Raushan who led the team from the front has added many feathers to his cap, having led the campaign to make the first ODF Gram Panchayat in Khagaria under Swachh Bharat Mission, and the first ODF Sub Division in Sitamarhi.

Milestones

The campaign led to the first ODF subdivision in the state- Belsand. An entry in the Limca Book of Records for the highest number of soak pits made in a day -2168 A national record for the highest incentive payment in a day- Rs. 113 crore for 94556 beneficiaries A record for the number of MIS updated in a day District achieved ODF


FIRST ODF DISTRICT IN BIHAR: THE JOURNEY SO FAR

sunita devi – a housewife, rani mistri and change …block officials including field staff, mnrega...

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