The initiative of the Government of Jharkhand in engaging women workforce largely for constructing toilets to attain Open Defecation-Free (ODF) status on or before June, 2018 has received Prime Minister Narendra Modi praise.
The Prime Minister in his radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on Sunday mentioned about 15 lakh women of the State who actively participated in continuous month long ‘Swacchta Sankalp’ drive in rural Jharkhand and congratulated them for constructing 1.70 lakh toilets in just 20 days.
“Jharkhand women have proved their mettle through constructing toilets in only 20 days and can be aptly termed as the real brand ambassadors of ‘Swacchta Abhiyaan’. This is one of the biggest incidents, I have come across. Women are the real power of Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan (SBM),” said the PM in the talk show.
Following the success of the special drive ‘Swacchta Sankalp’, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation had already extended this successful drive for another one month to fill the existing gaps utilising information, education and communication (IEC) tools.
The extended drive will focus on roping in women from all walks of life while disseminating information about importance of constructing toilets which is also associated with the self respect of females. The drive which was initiated in January 2018 after scribbling different success stories will continue in assistance with different NGOs.
“The ‘Swacchta Sankalp’ which is a unique initiative of Jharkhand government for carrying out construction of toilets in huge numbers has been extended for a month. The Department is eyeing on completing this massive task of toilets construction at the earliest through this special drive. Engagement of women in this drive has given momentum to this ambitious scheme,” said Secretary of Department of Water and Sanitation Aradhana Patnaik.
Over 20.89 lakh toilets have been constructed across Jharkhand ever since the launch of SBM. Jharkhand endeavoring hard to get ODF status, a year before the central government’s official deadline of making India ODF by 2019 is using all possible innovative techniques for engaging women workforce in sufficient number to complete the construction of toilets especially in the remotest areas.
The Department in collaboration with different civil society groups are imparting training to women masons and sensitizing women of rural belts through programmes like morning follow-ups and Sandhya Chaupal. By far, 1300 Gram Panchayats in the State have been declared ODF.
The data of Department of Water and Sanitation suggests that as many as 700 panchayats have been verified under defined factors of ODF. Around 13.50 lakh toilets are to be constructed more in State to attain the ODF status. To ensure that the ODF target is achieved on a prescribed deadline, as many as 1.15 lakh women Self Help Groups (SHGs) have been tagged with different villages for giving thrust to the project.
The department has not confined itself in merely constructing toilets and identifying beneficiaries but through colour code stickers and other check-lists, quality of constructed toilets is also being evaluated.
According to the record, Ramgarh, lohardaga and Koderma are declared ODF. Hazaribagh, Khunti, latehar and Jamtara districts will be soon conferred ODF tag. During a workshop organized by the Department, the department officials have confirmed that 70 percent target has been achieved in toilets construction.