The women of the Azadpur village on the outskirts of Kalaburagi have achieved what appeared to be an impossible task of ending open defecation in their village within a short period of around 2 months by persuading all the households to construct individual toilets.
United struggle
Vice-president of the Janawadi Mahila Sanghatane K. Neela, who was the guiding force behind the women of the village to organise themselves, told The Hindu that their recent struggle to save a tank in the village brought all the women together.
“This bond helped the women to take up the construction of individual toilets in all the 347 houses in the village,” said Ms. Neela.
Daunting task
It was a daunting task to persuade the villagers to construct individual toilets in the village. Only around four houses had toilets and rest of the households used open spaces and agriculture fields, she said.
Of the 347 houses, the work on only 24 toilets remained to be completed.
“The remaining 24 toilets would be ready within a week,” said Sharanamma, a homemaker.
