Every Monday, all schoolchildren in Nadia district of West Bengal take a pledge in their schools to use toilets and help to end open defecation.
This is part of a project taken up by the district administration to ensure toilets for all.
At a time when the Union government is pushing the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a mission to modernise sanitation within five years, Nadia has quietly emerged as a model for sanitation, with the toilet cover jumping from 40 per cent to 95 per cent in just 18 months.
“The pledge administered in all 4,220 schools of the district has proved to be the game changer,” District Magistrate P.B. Salim told The Hindu.
On Wednesday, Mr. Salim met thousands of teachers and impressed upon them the need to continue administering the pledge in the schools.
Encouraged by the students driving the campaign, the district administration has drafted religious leaders for a similar exercise. “We will ensure that there is no open defecation and 100 per cent toilet cover by March this year,” Mr. Salim said.
The district administration has been short-listed for the prestigious United Nation’s Award for Public Service.
“I have visited the district twice. I am happy the administration has made a dramatic improvement in ensuring toilets for all,” M. Asadur Rahman, who heads the Unicef Field Office in West Bengal, told The Hindu.
‘Shobar Sauchagaar,’ or Toilet for All, is executed by tapping into the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
As funds under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan were not sufficient for executing the project, the district administration utilised the job guarantee scheme for paying wages to those building toilets.
Self-help groups
It used the NRLM funds to train self-help groups and non-governmental organisations in spreading awareness of the scheme.
“‘Shobar Souchagaar’ started on July 15, 2013, in just 17 gram panchayats; by January this year, we have extended it to 95 per cent [of the district],” Mr. Salim said.
This is part of a project taken up by the district administration to ensure toilets for all.
At a time when the Union government is pushing the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a mission to modernise sanitation within five years, Nadia has quietly emerged as a model for sanitation, with the toilet cover jumping from 40 per cent to 95 per cent in just 18 months.
“The pledge administered in all 4,220 schools of the district has proved to be the game changer,” District Magistrate P.B. Salim told The Hindu.
On Wednesday, Mr. Salim met thousands of teachers and impressed upon them the need to continue administering the pledge in the schools.
Encouraged by the students driving the campaign, the district administration has drafted religious leaders for a similar exercise. “We will ensure that there is no open defecation and 100 per cent toilet cover by March this year,” Mr. Salim said.
The district administration has been short-listed for the prestigious United Nation’s Award for Public Service.
“I have visited the district twice. I am happy the administration has made a dramatic improvement in ensuring toilets for all,” M. Asadur Rahman, who heads the Unicef Field Office in West Bengal, told The Hindu.
‘Shobar Sauchagaar,’ or Toilet for All, is executed by tapping into the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
As funds under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan were not sufficient for executing the project, the district administration utilised the job guarantee scheme for paying wages to those building toilets.
Self-help groups
It used the NRLM funds to train self-help groups and non-governmental organisations in spreading awareness of the scheme.
“‘Shobar Souchagaar’ started on July 15, 2013, in just 17 gram panchayats; by January this year, we have extended it to 95 per cent [of the district],” Mr. Salim said.
Source - The Hindu
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