Phoolwati Devi, 48, is now a proud householder. Compared to her married sisters living in other villages in Bihar, she is the most comfortably placed. For she is the only woman in her entire family - over the past generations - with a toilet built at home.

For generations, women from Phoolwati's family have attended to nature's call in the open. Strategizing their needs by finding an isolated spot in a field, near a railway track or behind bushes - anywhere far from a peeping Tom - and always late at night or before sunrise.

But this is no longer a problem for Phoolwati and the other residents of Desri block in Bihar. The block has recently been awarded the Nirmal Prakhand Puraskar for having achieved total sanitation coverage, within a fixed timeframe, for all homes and schools; and for having eradicated the practice of open defecation. 

This award is conferred upon a district under the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), the only rural sanitation programme of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. The TSC is implemented in a campaign style. It encourages the beneficiaries (women included) to participate in the construction of latrines using locally-trained masons; it also aims to eliminate the practice of manual scavenging and to convert all dry latrines into pour-flush latrines (water is poured down to wash away the waste).

Interestingly, Desri is the first block in Bihar to receive the award. It carries a cash prize of Rs 20,00,000 (US$1=Rs 42) for the block and Rs 400,000 each for the eight gram panchayats (village councils). Of the 16 blocks of Vaishali district, Desri is one of the most backward.

The target of total sanitation was achieved with the involvement of the Department of Water and Sanitation, Vaishali, which monitored the project at the district level; UNICEF, as a support agency; and Action for Community Empowerment (ACE) as the implementing agency for the TSC.

With the successful implementation of the project, all the 9,015 households in the block have their own toilets, as do the 38 primary and middle schools. The two high schools even have separate toilets for boys and girls. In addition, community toilets have been constructed for landless people. All this took just seven months, from January to October 2006.

Understandably, implementing the project was easier said than done. According to Census 2001, Desri is on the list of educationally backward blocks, where rural female literacy is 36.60 per cent and the gender gap in literacy is 28.02 per cent. The number of Above Poverty Line (APL) households is 3,970 but the number of Below Poverty Line (BPL) households is 5,135. While BPL families were willing to construct toilets, with the government subsidy for the construction, the APL bracket - sans any subsidy - required persuasion.

Says Dinesh Prasad Singh, head of Desri block: "It was very difficult to get the toilets constructed. People doubted our motives, suspecting we were using poor material for construction and that the low-cost single-pit toilet had a short life. Besides, the APL families wanted a toilet constructed at the same rate as the BPL families. Some BPL families were not in a position to pay even the required amount of Rs 300 or supply material, as was required of them. To help them out, we started credit facilities. In some cases, the 'mukhiyas' (heads of village councils) and other well-off residents played good Samaritans."

This community-participatory programme involved the selection of panchayat coordinators, motivators and masons; and their training. Monthly review meetings were held and production centers were established at the panchayat level.

Elaborates K.L. Baitha, Executive Engineer, Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), Vaishali, "We held a number of orientation programmes for the PRI (Panchayati Raj Institution) members at the block level. PRI members were also taken on an exposure visit to Midnapore in West Bengal in order to see the model of low-cost toilets. Regular motivation and monitoring of the workers also helped speed up the task."

However, the most important job was that of the motivators, who mingled with the village people and helped generate a demand for household sanitation and a hygienic lifestyle. Easily identifiable because of their stick, whistle and cap, the motivators kept a check on open defecation. During their regular morning and evening rounds, if they found someone openly defecating, they would blow their whistle to attract attention and create embarrassment and the desire to get a toilet constructed.

To create awareness, increase demand among the villages and bring forth the benefits of hand-washing practices, magic shows were organized in each village and school in the block. Films containing messages on sanitation and personal hygiene were screened.

"Village contact drives through community meetings, children's rallies, and wall-posters helped in spreading the message of sanitation. It created a positive atmosphere in the villages. This resulted in the demand among the community for low-cost toilets. Teachers and school children took out sanitation rallies. Besides, household visits were conducted on a massive scale for effective dissemination of the message," says Indranil Ghosh, Programme In-charge, ACE.

Now, Desri bears no resemblance to its past of a year ago. The roads are no longer filthy with human excreta. And the women of Desri can breathe free at last! Take the case of Bibha Devi of Khoksha village who was suffering from a gastric disorder for the past two years. She didn't have a toilet at home and would suppress the urge till dusk, as she did not like people watching her. Besides, she also had to accompany her two daughters as it was not safe for them to set out to a lonely spot on their own. Fortunately, with the construction of a toilet at home, Bibha Devi now feels safer and healthier.

Chanti Devi of Kalyanpur village in Japharabad says, "Life has improved a lot, especially for women. We no longer rush in and out of the house in search of privacy. We also feel safe. It is like having one's pride restored." 

May 19, 2007

By arrangement with WFS 

Read Also:  Ensuring village Hygiene in God's Name by Rama Srinivasan

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