MIDTOWNERThe

President: Rtn. Yogesh Gupta Secretary: Rtn. Suman Sarawgi Editor: Rtn. Bhupesh Kapoor

BULLETIN OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF CALCUTTA MIDTOWN - DISTRICT 3291

Volume 42 l Number 04 l Wednesday, 24th August, 2016T

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t Next RWM On Thursday 8th September at the

Saturday club at 6.30 pm.RWM On Wednesday 24th August,

At The Saturday Club At 6.30 PM.

We are always amazed to see the difference that one individual can bring about with his or her efforts. Here we present the story of Dr. Mapuskar, an unsung hero who has worked relentlessly to ensure that the village he worked in achieved a high level of hygiene and sanitation. He did this through awareness campaigns, experimentation with technology, planning and executing projects by mobilizing the community and making them stakeholders. It is an inspiring story indeed.

Dr. Mapuskar has been working in the field of rural sanitation for the last 50 years. He implemented the principles of appropriate technology and community ownership at a time when these were not part of the national consciousness. Today he continues to be active in the field, advocating the use of decentralised, low cost sanitation options. This article presents his story and a film about his organisation.

The beginning: There were ghosts about, the young doctor was told as he settled down for the night on the hospital veranda. Despite that, he slept well. The true trial came the next morning when he discovered that the hospital did not have a toilet. As he made his way through the village to the forest, he came across a number of the villagers he had met the last evening. Mortified with shame, he made a decision. 'Never again', he decided.

That young man was Dr. Mapuskar. Just out of college, he had approached the Directorate of Health Services for a job. The only one was in a village called Dehu, he was told. The young man agreed and moved there. After that memorable first night- and morning – his first self-appointed task was to excavate a simple trench toilet for himself. Used medicine cartons formed the walls of this toilet. The next was to start a revolution.

Early efforts: In the course of his practice, Dr. Mapuskar realised he was never called on to treat more than a handful of illnesses – all hygiene related. He realised that he needed to tackle the cause of the infections. When looking for methods, he came across the book 'Excreta disposal in rural areas' published by the WHO. He bought the book, selected a design and constructed 10 toilets. This proved to be an abysmal failure. The designs were not designed for India; all the toilets collapsed in the monsoon. This proved a serious setback to Dr. Mapuskar's efforts at promoting toilets. The incident also brought home the importance of appropriate technology. He began again to speak with his own staff and with the larger community about the importance of sanitation and hygiene.

The turning point: In 1963, Dr. Mauskar initiated a worm infestation survey. The funds for this were obtained from the Gram Sabha. He achieved 100% coverage of the households, and learned that 86% of the residents were infected with worms. In order to explain the origin, he set up two microscopes, one with a sample of infected

Dr. Mapuskar – A Life Dedicated To Improving Rural Sanitation In India

Today’s Speaker

WE MEET EVERY 2nd & 4th Thursday AT THE SATURDAY CLUB AT 6.30 PM

Dr. Sanjit SahaBorn in Maharashtra

Graduated from University of Hea l th Sc iences , Andhra P r a d e s h , i n 1 9 8 7 . P o s t Graduation in Orthopaedics from MGIIMS, Sewagram, Wardha. Joined Maharashtra Health And Medical Service in 1989. Was Assistant District Health Officer. First District ii/c for UNFPA in Maharashtra. Worked with Apollo Indraprastha Hospital in Delhi as Joint Rep l acement Su rgeon . D i r ec to r o f Physiotherapy colleges in Delhi. Was Medical Director of G.M. Modi Hospital, New Delhi.

HOD of Emergency Services of Fortis Group of Hospita ls . Sr . Consultant and HOD, Emergency Medical Services and Trauma, Medica Superspecialty Hospital, Kolkata since 2011.

Currently-Assistant Vice President – Co l laborat ive Academic Serv ices & Preventive Health Initiatives, Medica Group Hospitals.

Dr Saumitra Bharadwaj has diverse experience in Indian healthcare industry has given him a unique perspective. He has had the privilege of watching and actively-participating in the phenomenal growth and transformation of Indian healthcare's landscape. From being part of the team who started one of the first health dotcoms to establishing the largest Health Services Company before the start of IRDA Licensed TPA revolution to being part of the launch team of 5 new hospitals and a large pharmacy chain he has been involved in the forefront of implementation and innovation in various leadership positions.

He presently works as Vice President Operations for the Medica Group of Hospitals. He has experience in medical and general operations, pricing, billing, marketing and branding of hospitals.

Dr Saumitra Bharadwaj

. The very best thing you can do for the whole world is to make the most of yourself.—Wallace Wattles

faeces and the other with a soil sample. They were found to both have worm eggs. This helped to convince the villagers of the origin of the infection. The entire village was dewormed with medication obtained from the government. He also explained that the medicine required for deworming the village cost Rs.10,000/- and would need to be repeated every three months. At that time, the cost of a toilet was Rs. 400/-. This went a long way to convince the villagers of the importance of toilets.

The village conducted a massive awareness campaign with processions, household visits, group discussions etc. The procession organised during this campaign ended with a massive meeting attended by nearly all the villagers. A decision to construct Appasaheb Patwardhan's 'sopa sandas' toilets was passed at this meeting. A toilet construction committee was appointed for the actual implementation, with a secretary to manage funds. Households desiring to build a toilet came and deposited Rs. 400/- with the secretary. Any leftover money was handed back to the families. On this no-profit-no-loss principle, 100 toilets were built in a month. By 1980, the village had achieved 90% coverage.

Next steps: In 1980, Dr. Mapuskar began promoting the bio-gas toilets developed by Appasaheb Patwardhan. The first person to adopt these was Mrs. Pardeshi. She was convinced to build two toilets, one for her family and one for the neighbours. The neighbours were charged Rs 5/-per month. Soon, this pay-and-use toilet along with the sale of compost and generation of gas earned the family Rs. 700/- per month against a one-time investment of Rs 1300/-. Today, there are 75 such bio-gas toilets functioning in the village. Over the next 5 years, Dr. Mapuskar modified the original design and developed the Malprabha bio-gas toilet.

Later, decentralised on-site integrated waste management (DOSIWAM) was developed and is now implemented in 25 sites across the country. Dr. Mapuskar also set up two organisations, the Jyotsna Aarogya Prabodhan and the Appasaheb Patwardhan Safai Wa Paryawaran Tantraniketan to work on health awareness and appropriate technology. The team has also been working on bio-gas composters for vegetable waste, monitoring for the Sant Gadgebaba Abhiyaan, and lobbying for policy change in the field of sanitation and hygiene.

This article has been written by Chicu Lokgariwar for India Water Portal (IWP) and republished here in arrangement with IWP.

Village processions like these helped create awareness

(Photo: Dr. Mapuskar)

Snippet

The Whole World StinksWise men and philosophers throughout the ages have disagreed on many things, but many are in unanimous

agreement on one point: "We become what we think about." Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "A man is what he

thinks about all day long." The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius put it this way: "A man's life is what his

thoughts make of it." In the Bible we find: "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."

One Sunday afternoon, a cranky grandfather was visiting his family. As he lay down to take a nap, his grandson

decided to have a little fun by putting Limburger cheese on Grandfather's mustache. Soon, grandpa awoke

with a snort and charged out of the bedroom saying, "This room stinks." Through the house he went, finding

every room smelling the same. Desperately he made his way outside only to find that "the whole world stinks!"

So it is when we fill our minds with negativism. Everything we experience and everybody we encounter will

carry the scent we hold in our mind.

D r . M a p u s k a r

explaining the

principles of the

s o p a s a n d a s

(Pho to : Ch i cu

Lokgariwar)

Have you liked us on Facebook yet?

MINUTES OF THE 1957TH (3rd OF 2016-17)MEETING OF ROTARY CLUB OF CALCUTTA MIDTOWN HELD ON

11th August 2016 AT “GYAN MANCH, PRETORIA STREET, AT 6:30PM.

Ÿ Call to order : The Meeting was called to order by the President Rtn. Yogesh Gupta

Ÿ National Anthem : National Anthem was sung by all lead by Suman Sarawgi

Ÿ Sgt.-at-Arms : None appointed for the day.

Ÿ Welcoming of Guests:

¢ President welcomed all Dignitaries on and off the dias, Rotarians, Inner Wheel members, Rotaractors

and other Guests to the meeting.

¢ President requested Smt Priti Patel and Dr Kanchan Gaba to join him on the Dias and introduced them

to the House

Ÿ Confirmation of last Minutes:

¢ Minutes of the 1956th meeting was circulated.

¢ Since there was no matters arising there from, they were adopted as proposed by Rtn. Debojit Haldar

and seconded by Rtn. Nirmal Agarwal

Ÿ Meeting Credits : None reported

Ÿ Correspondence IN : None reported

Ÿ Correspondence OUT : None reported

Ÿ Guest Speaker :

¢ Eminent Dancer Ms. Priti Patel spoke about her institute and the way she was training the specially

abled children of the society and thanked our club for giving a platform to such children who were

supposed to perform after the meeting.

¢ Dr. Kanchan Gaba thanked our club for the programme that we have organised and allowing the

underpriviledged children to perform on stage for the first time. She was happy with the arrangements

made by the Convenors. She spoke about the Swach Bharat Mission and urged our club to join hands

with her NGO for building toilets.

Ÿ President's Report :

¢ President mentioned the visit to the Blind school on 31st July and spoke about sponsoring 67 children

and planting 40 saplings followed by Quiz contest for the Blind boys of the Institute.

¢ He also mentioned that Dr Kanchan has been successful in their toilet making project with the help of

Japanese sponsors, so in future planning to tie up to complete the 20,000 toilet project.

¢ He announced that on the 15th of August, our club will be celebrating Independence Day with the

children of Gandhi Vidya mandir and requested all to assemble at 9 am on that day.

Ÿ Inductionsnone : None

Ÿ Director's Report- Non Medical :

¢ Convenor Shalini Agarwal and Suman Sarawgi- Sapnoa ki Udaan project followed the meeting.

¢ Anjika, Dhakuria Institue and Turnstone Global were to perform in the evening.

¢ Rtn Rakesh Sahni was the MC for the event.

¢ It was an outstanding performance by all the children

¢ At the end of the programme all the children were awarded certificates and a gift hamper.

¢ Turnstone and Dhakuria Institute were also given books for their library sponsored by Story Bookshop

Ÿ Treasurer's Reportnone : None

Ÿ Secretary's announcement : Rtn. Suman Sarawgi announced the Birthdays.

Ÿ Sgt.-at-arms report : none

Ÿ Vote of Thanks : Rtn. Nirmal Agarwal presented a Vote of thanks to all present including the Guest

Speaker.

Ÿ Closure of Meeting : Rtn. Yogesh Gupta closed the meeting

www.rotarymidtown.org Published By Rtn Suman Sarawgi, Hon. Secretary Calcutta Midtown

THE

TESTF UR-WAY

1. Is it the truth ?

2. Is it fair to all concerned ?

3. Will it build goodwill and better friendship ?

4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned ?

Of the things we say and do:

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY -12thAug - Rtn Rakesh Khanna and Nina Khanna31st Aug - Rtn Surendra Kapoor and Kiran Kapoor.

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS -

5th Aug - Rtn Udayendu Das and anne Pramila Agarwal10th Aug - Viji iyengar11th Aug - Archana Jain and anne Chandan Chakraborty14th Aug - Anne Sarabjit Singh15th Aug - Rtn Sanjay Choudhary18th Aug - Anne Shalini Mehra21st Aug - Rtn Nirmal Agarwal and Rtn Sudhir Chand23rd Aug Rtn Dipankar Chatterjee29th Aug Anne Dr Laitha Seth

11th August Pictures at Gyan Manch

15th August Pictures at Gandhi Vidya Mandir