A small village in Jamkhandi taluk of Bagalkot district has decided to join hands with the government’s efforts to declare their village open defecation-free.
With a population of 700 families, residents of Maigur village have taken the responsibility on their shoulders to ensure that the no person in the village goes into the open to attend to nature’s call.
To achieve this target, the villagers have adopted a simple method which so far has effectively worked.
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Nine teams
“We have formed nine teams with each team having around 30 members that works in creating awareness among the people on the importance of toilets and the hazard of defecating in the open. The job of the teams is simple: the team members work in two shifts, between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. where they go round places in the village with whistles and drums urging people not to go into open areas for attending to nature’s call,” Ashok Sadalagi, one of the gram panchayat members, said.
He said that the residents decided to launch this drive after realising the efforts being put in by the government to declare the village open defecation-free.
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To help the government achieve the target, the villagers decided to lend their hand by constituting nine teams with each team given the name of a saint such as Basaveshwara, Kanakadasa, Madara Chennayya and Allama Prabhu.
Mr. Sadalagi said that while a majority of the villagers have individual toilets, only a few do not have it. For them, the authorities have provided space to get toilets constructed.
“Despite having individual toilets and water connection, many people are in the habit of going into open areas to relieve themselves. We are now holding awareness programmes to educate them that those who have toilets must use them,” he said.
While the government is trying to provide funds and facilities to make the village open defecation-free, the villagers believe that people should join hands in the efforts to achieve the target.
“The government is doing its job. But no amount of efforts will help achieve the target if the people do not extend cooperation. Ultimately, the people must realise their responsibility, without which, all efforts will only remain on government files,” Srishail Mathapati, a resident of the village, said.