Since message disseminated through dramas and songs reach people effectively and create impact, artists were roped in by Lead Society, an NGO, to create awareness among villagers to eradicate open defecation.
Funded under the State Balanced Growth Fund under the State Planning Commission and District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), artists performed dramas and dance and karakattam in villages to create awareness on using toilets regularly.
The problems of open defecation were explained by the artists and the villagers were encouraged to construct toilets by using the grant from the government.
They explained about the Individual Household Latrine (IHHL) projects and said that of the total 322 village panchayats in the districts more than 61 villages were declared as open defecation-free by the village panchayats respectively. Children were asked to cultivate the habit of using toilets, both at home and in schools.
Artists said that open defecation would not only harm individuals, but also the entire society, particularly the children who are the future citizens of the country.
Organisers said that the programmes were carried out in villages in the block for the past five months during evening hours.
They said that the response from the villagers was encouraging as many have come forward to construct toilets at their home. They said that their objective was to make all the households have toilets and use it regularly. “Many toilets are unused after a period of time. Hence, we ask villagers to use it regularly”, they added.
