The Hindu : New Delhi News : Bengal village opens new chapter in sanitation

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Monday, Oct 06, 2008
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Bengal village opens new chapter in sanitation

Aarti Dhar

Every house in this pre-dominantly Muslim hamlet with 2,751 households has a toilet now

Photo: Aarti Dhar

An Anganvadi centre at Deganga village in North 24 Pargana district of West Bengal.

KOLKATA: Five years ago it was difficult to enter or walk past the narrow by-lanes of Hadipur Jhikra-I Gram Panchayat of Deganga block in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal because of overbearing stench, dirt and flies. Today the scene is different. The village panchayat has overcome the challenge of open defecation. Every house in this pre-dominantly Muslim hamlet with 2,751 households has a toilet, as does the anganwadi center, school and the primary health sub-centre.

Villagers now say with a sense of pride that they have applied for the Nirmal Gram Puraskar award given by the Central Government under its Total Sanitation Campaign for villages that achieve full sanitation coverage. But this journey from 2001 to now was not easy, recalls Mashqura Begum who was the driving force behind this movement. When she approached the villagers to construct toilets in their homes, the first thing they would ask was about its utility. For those living below the poverty line, food and health were the priority. Little did they realise, health was directly related to sanitation, and dignity and safety was an added aspect for women, she says.

To send the message across, she began with constructing a toilet in her own house and subsequently went door-to-door telling people, women in particular, about the benefits of sanitation. Her next target was the anganwadi center that was constructed on the land donated by her grandmother Gulal Bibi. “I went from house to house collecting Rs 420 as beneficiaries contribution (Rs 210 for those living below the poverty line). Some women gave and others even complained that their husbands beat them on learning that money was being given for constructing a toilet.”

Mashqura then decided to create awareness among the children who then became the agents of change. She brought in innovations in collecting money also by asking for small contribution like 50 paisa every week that would be kept under a separate head created for every family. Seven years down the line, the gram panchayat has full sanitation coverage. So much so, the health sub-centre has the western-style toilet and a motor to pump water but there is no water supply because there is still no electricity!

The sanitaryware like pans, pit lining rings and pit covers, for the villages is supplied by the rural sanitary marts initiated by the West Bengal government in 1991. Each mart is started with an initial grant of Rs 2.50 lakh to set up production facility and each mart is expected to become self-sustaining over a period of time. So far, the rural sanitary marts in West Bengal have been able to generate demand for 5 million household toilets and have met the demand.

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