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Beneficiaries motivated to construct toilets themselves
Punjab had made a strategic decision that all beneficiaries had to build toilets on their own, rather than depend on informal contractors. However, people in the Pakhon Kalan village of Barnala district, majority of who were marginalized farmers, belonging to the labour class could not afford to do so.
The Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) team was keen to ensure that all families had access to sanitation. Although the Sarpanch was very proactive and approved of toilets, he wanted to be involved in the construction process which the district administration did not approve of.
Earlier, the district sanitation team had conducted several triggering camps and school awareness campaigns to bring about behaviour change and convince people to adopt safe sanitation practices. Yet, the response from the community was less than forthcoming. Hence teams from both the district and the state held discussion with the Sarpanch and the community together.
They…
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Bath Cum Latrine an unique initiative under MISSION SWACHH AND SWASTH PUNJAB
Bath Cum Latrine an unique initiative under MISSION SWACHH AND SWASTH PUNJAB
Open defecation is a socially acceptable norm in our society. A preference for open defecation may be due to traditional and cultural practices or lack of access of toilets or both. Open defecation is when people go out in fields, forests, open bodies of water, or other open spaces rather than using a toilet. It is incredibly dangerous, as contact with human waste through oral faecal route , can cause diseases such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, polio, diarrhoea, worm infestation and under nutrition. Open defection causes indignity and shame to the women while they go for it .It is a social disease and need to be eradicated by focusing on behaviour change at house hold and community level.
Previously state govt was focussing on construction of individual house hold toilets through contractors or intermediaries like gram panchayats or non-governmental organisations . The focus was on construction of toilet for individual house hold , Standard unit design was made available based on single technology option that is twin pit with pour flush . There was lack of household involvement in the construction of toilet .
A rapid survey was conducted in July 2014 by the world bank to assess the status of toilet usage in rural Punjab . It was found that 44% men and 13%women are not using toilets regularly . 1/3rd of adults who have toilets inside their houses were not using toilets regularly and 14% were not using them at all . Toilets constructed with govt funds were converted in to stores or bath rooms .
To address this challenge “Mission Swachh and Swasth Punjab” was launched by State Govt in July 2015. Department of Water Supply and Sanitation(DWSS) is implementing Mission Swachh& Swasth Punjab under the aegis of Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin in the State. A community led total sanitation (CLTS) approach has been adopted by the DWSS in motivating communities to attain ODF. The CLTS approach focuses on mobilizing communities, creating awareness and demand for health, hygiene, and sanitation and stressing on collective behavioural change through community action and generation of peer pressure using community based monitoring and vigilance committees.(Nigrani committees). Beneficiaries are motivated to construct latrine of their choice . Previous of practice construction of latrines by contractors or by intermediaries has been stopped . Rs 15000/ incentive is being paid to Eligible beneficiaries in their bank accounts as an incentive for construction of latrines inside their houses. It was decided to motivate the beneficiaries to construct bath cum toilets by contributing Rs 5000-15000 from their own resources over and above the govt. incentive of Rs 15000/- . Village level motivators engaged under the program were provided with albums containing pictures of bath cum latrines .They were directed to show the albums to the beneficiaries and motivate them to construct bath cum latrines .
The bath cum latrines were instantly accepted in the districts like Fatehgarh Sahib , Patiala and SAS Nagar . More than 85% house hold in these districts opted for bath cum latrines . Ownership level of the house holds towards bath cum latrines was very high and there was no risk of conversion of such latrines in to stores etc .
After seeing the success it was decided to promote construction of bath cum latrines in a big way in the entire state . Exposure tours were organised to the villages where people had constructed bath cum latrines . Motivators were granted an incentive of Rs 25/- and master motivators Rs 10 / per bath cum latrine. State level IEC teams made frequent visits to border area districts to promote bath cum latrines . In order to create sense of pride towards bath cum latrines Selfie with Toilet campaign was organised .This strategy succeeded and now in the entire state more than 80% latrines being constructed are bath cum latrines . State govt has invested Rs 499 crores under the program but actual investment at grass root level is in the range of Rs 1000 crores which is on account of beneficiary contributions from their sources for construction of bath cum latrines . Presently 1.99 lac latrines have been completed and 1.41 lac are under progress . Out these 3.40 lac latrines more than 2.80 lac latrines are bath cum latrines. The entire program is being monitored on real time basis through mobile application . Presently campaign is going on in all the districts and rural areas of entire and the target is to make rural Punjab State Open Defecation Free by 31-12-2017. So far out of 22 districts of the State, rural areas of 9 Districts namely Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana, Moga, Mohali, Jallandhar, Kapurthala, Barnala, Faridkot and SBS Nagar (Nawanshahar) have been self declared as open defecation free by their respective Panchayats and Deputy commissioners . Rural areas of 53 Blocks and 6026 villages have been declared as open defecation free till 7.8.2017 and work is in progress in many more villages. Usage of bath cum latrines is 100% and it long term sustainability has been ensured with this initiative .
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