like ASHA workers who have been playing a key role in strengthening the health services in rural areas, here comes ‘Sanitary Mates’— MNREGA women workers — who are all set to become a major component in the Modi Government’s Swachchh Bharat mission in the villages to help make the country open defecation-free by 2019.
Sanitary Mates (SMs) will be handpicked by the gram panchayats from women MNREGA workers and their job will be to help identify households without toilets, coordinate with the MGNREGA functionaries for sanction of the work, assist the selected households in engaging masons, supervise construction as per the specifications.
However, they have to be literate, active and worked the highest number of days under the rural job scheme to qualify as the Sanitary Mates, said a senior official from the Ministry, adding that a letter has been written to all the State Governments in this regard.
Their role will be different from Swachchhta doot who are volunteers and spread awareness about sanitation in the villages.
Each SM shall be considered as a semi-skilled worker and shall be paid for the days of work as any other mate in MGNREGA. They will be trained in various methods of sanitation and in mobilisation.
The SMs shall identify the households, through a house-to-house survey and after detailed discussion with the household will push for construction of toilets under the MNREGA.
The Ministry hopes that the SMs will help push its plans to provide Individual House Hold latrines (IHHls) to about 6 Crore rural households in the next 5 years under the Swachchh Bharat Mission (Gramin).
Post delinking of MNREGA from the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, the entire cost for the construction of the IHHl ie Rs12,000 will be exclusively through the rural job scheme.
As per the last year estimate there are about 31,359 gram panchayats in the country with a possible 36,01,672 IHHls which have potential to take up works with higher material component as per the MNREGA rules. The selection of these GPs will be made at the district level by the district collector to avoid any overlap with works taken up under NBA.
No work for renovation of old toilets is possible under this initiative. Although GP is the implementing agency, the work would be done by the beneficiary household, the official added.