Beats of mandar on October 7 would certainly be sweeter for the villagers of Bayasi panchayat under Chanho block near Ranchi than the trumpets that were to name and shame them nearly couple of years ago. On the day, all the five villages of the panchayat would be acknowledged open defecation free (ODF) in the presence of State Government machinery.
The story begins in 2012 when the panchayat comprising Kanjagi, Madai, Sisai, Goke and Bayasi villages of 1,078 cumulative households could present not more than 15 homes where proper toilets were in place to relieve oneself. Most of the villagers, including elderly persons and women would go to fields to attend their nature’s call and in the process put back a filthy trail on sanitation front.
“It was the time we got toilet scheme to be built under MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) convergence. But due to insufficient provision for a toilet, payment delay and also non-clarity over certain funding pattern, we could make just 254 toilets. When the total sanitation scheme in the form of Swacch Bharat Mission started in November 2014 the pace picked up,” said Bhola Oraon, Mukhia of Byasi panchayat.
Under the new initiative, the Gram Sabha of the five villagers predominantly inhabited by tribals decided to install latrines in all the households which brought about 1,025 new toilets covering the entire panchayat universally.
Moreover, just building the structure was not sufficient. “We observed that despite having toilets in their homes people go to fields as their old habits refused to die easily. This was the reason behind poor sanitation around our villages that was causing contamination to the water bodies and generating diseases like diarrhea among children,” added the Mukhia.
The matter placed for discussion in the Gram Sabha meetings which, in turn, decided to slap stringent fines on the open defecators. “We formed a monitoring committee ‘Gram Jal Swaachata Samiti’ that comprises senior members of the villages and intellectuals. We also pressed into act trumpet sounding volunteers who make noises to alert the persons going out as a part of ‘name and shame’ strategy. Provision for a fine of Rs 1,500 has been kept to frighten those persons,” added Bansi Oraon, a resident of Sisai who came with Bhola Oraon to attend inauguration of sanitation fortnight being organised between September 25 and October 11 by the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, Unicef and Global Sanitation Fund throughout the State.
“It was very difficult to make people understand the cons of open defecation in the beginning but slowly we adopted this task as a mission. Provision for hefty fine was kept also to exert greater pressure on the people. I am happy this worked well and now the entire panchayat is nearly ODF without anyone getting fined so far,” said Bhola Oraon talking about the deterrent.
The Mukhia added that because of the ‘carrot and stick’ policy now the panchayat has reached on the stage to force its entry into the list of 41 others from different parts of Jharkhand so far. The State plans to take the ODF figure to over 600 panchayats this year and two new blocks-Dulmi and Karsai- have been selected to be made ODF Blocks.
Taking the good work ahead, the panchayat is planning to bring a resolution before the Gram Sabha meeting on September 26 to give the penal provision a ‘statuary status’ along with other steps to sanitize water bodies and plant trees in the villages.
“The Department on its part is mulling for a revolving fund of Rs 200-300 crore for the purpose so that the momentum of good work started can continue unabated,” informed DWSD Secretary AP Singh.