I, Dungarpur My ODF Journey from Shame to Pride February 2016 The Story of Forty Four Gram Panchayats Achieving ODF Status with Equity and Sustainability in 100 Days Documentation support: UNICEF State Office for Rajasthan List of Acronyms ADM : Additional District Magistrate BDO : Block Development Officer BEEO : Block Elementary Education Officer BLO : Block Level Officer BLS : Baseline Survey CATS : Community Approaches to Total Sanitation CEO : Chief Executive Officer CDPO : Child Development Project Officer DLO : District Level Officer DEO : District Education Officer DD-ICDS : Deputy Director – Integrated Child Development Services DM : District Magistrate DPC-SBM : District Project Coordinator – Swachh Bharat Mission DRG : District Resource Group FINISH Society : Financial Inclusion Improves Sanitation and Health Society GoR : Government of Rajasthan GP : Gram Panchayat HH : Household IEC : Information Education and Communication IHHL : Individual Household Latrine MLA : Member of Legislative Assembly ODF : Open Defecation Free ODEP : Open Defecation Elimination Plan PRI : Panchayati Raj Institutions R-SHACS : Rajasthan Sanitation and Hygiene Advocacy and Communication Strategy SDLO : Sub Divisional Level Officer SBM - G : Swachh Bharat Mission – Gramin SDM : Sub-Divisional Magistrate SE-PHED : Superintending Engineer – Public Health Department SHACS : Sanitation and Hygiene Advocacy and Communication Strategy SOP : Standard Operating Procedures SRG : State Resource Group SSOPs : Simplified Standard Operating Procedures TSC : Total Sanitation Campaign UNICEF : United Nations Children’s Fund WASH : Water, Sanitation and Hygiene English rendering of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s address at the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission at Rajpath 2 October 2014 “Today is 2nd October, the birth anniversaries of our Pujya Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shashtri ji. Lal Bahadur Shastri gave us the Mantra of Jai Jawan Jai Kisan. Indian Farmers filled the granaries in reply to that exhortation. Pujya Bapu gave us the message of ‘Quit India- Clean India’. Our countrymen, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, freed the nation from colonialism. Bapu’s dream of cleanliness, however, remains unfulfilled.” I am Dungarpur A non-descript district, in the dignity. The daughter-in-laws’ southernmost part of Rajasthan, are grateful to their families for spread over 3770 kilometers. As having them married into my my name suggests, my terrain is households. My sons are able to hilly, but beautiful. I am known save their hard earned money as the Kashmir of Rajasthan. as it is not being wasted on expenses incurred due to water There is no stench in my and sanitation related illnesses. pathways. My children are able My villages have become greener to walk freely around my villages and my children are more self- and play as much as they want sufficient. to, as they do not fall ill. My daughters are healthier and safer now and are living a life of 1 Wondering Why? Forty four Gram Panchayats changed. Peoples’ mindset were (GPs), covering 75,000 transformed. Women’s voices households of mine have become were heard. Children’s needs Open Defecation Free (ODF) in were understood. Men used 100 days. This is a feat! My sons their money effectively. A lot of and daughters, old and young, motivation and hard work went have got a new lease of life - a life into making Dungarpur what it of dignity, safety and hygiene. is today, what it has achieved A miracle happened to make today. A long journey was me reach this stage. At least traversed to reach to this point for me, it was. What could not - a journey, full of tribulations, happen for an uncountable lessons, challenges, rewards and number of years, took place in a lot of perseverance. less than a year. 100 days to be exact. Age old behaviours Women in Dungarpur Lead the Way One of my most brave daughters, Hina Ahari set an example for the Dungarpur ODF drive - a 24-year- old woman- attended a training session organized by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Financial Inclusion Improves Sanitation and Health (FINISH) Society motivators and realized the importance of a toilet at home. She decided to take a stand. When she went to her maternal home for a vacation, she called her husband and refused to return until he built a toilet for her. “I decided to not live in shame and demanded a toilet from my husband for my dignity. My husband also understood my plight and constructed a toilet. 2 My Story Until about a year ago (October Sanitation Status of India 2014) this is where I stood - with over 249 Gram Panchayats in India has 60 per cent of my region, not a single Gram the world’s population that Panchayat (GP) was Open defecates in the open and Defecation Free (ODF) and only 22 per cent of world’s total 12 per cent of the households under 5 deaths. An estimated had toilets. What was worse, out 212,000 children under the of this 12 per cent, only 2 percent age of five die each year in were regularly used. the country due to diarrhoeal diseases and 88 per cent I felt repugnant at the sight of of diarrhoeal cases can be men lining up my pathways at directly attributed to unsafe the crack of dawn to defecate drinking water, inadequate in the open. The women were sanitation and poor hygiene forced to wake up early, form a conditions. There are group and wait to get together 595 million people open to walk distances to relieve defecating in India, of which themselves. The children would 547 million live in rural areas follow their elders and do the (JMP, 2014); and 75% of ST and same. 63% of SC have no access to household sanitation (Census Gradually, my daughters started of India, 2011). falling ill. Overworked, unable to relieve themselves when required, they started falling sick. Unhappy and unhealthy women can never raise a happy and a healthy family. They would travel to a bus stop or a hospital, seek the comforts of having a toilet there. They would return from hospitals and ask their husbands to construct a toilet for them, but their voices were never heard and their opinions never mattered. My sons would spend money on buying tobacco and alcohol but would not understand the significance of a toilet. My children would also defecate in the open, not wash hands before eating and would just fall and remain ill. Everyone was falling prey to their unhygienic practices and defecating in the open. They were never taught or explained the 3 Sanitation Status of Rajasthan Rajasthan has a rural The southern part of sanitation coverage of 19.6% as Rajasthan is mostly comprised compared to national coverage of hard to reach remote areas of 30.7%. Following which, as and mountainous terrain. per the Baseline Survey (BLS) This area mainly includes carried out by Government the tribal districts of Udaipur, of Rajasthan in November Dungarpur and Banswara; 2012, State’s rural sanitation the Water, Sanitation and coverage is pegged at 27.3% Hygiene (WASH) situation is as against national coverage quite challenging in these of 40.4%. This translates to 8.4 tribal areas of Rajasthan and million households not having the districts have a higher access to sanitation facility. rate of rural open defecation The State shows marked (more than 90%) compared disparities amongst districts to the state average of - the tribal districts located in approximately 80%. the south-east of the State generally show development indicators lower than the State average and also lower HDI rank, a trend which continued to grow over the last decade. importance of hygiene, toilets and using toilets. How that arrested the incidence of various diseases was never know to my people. No one ever talked about sanitation. No one ever cared. I was one of the poorest districts of Rajasthan. Industries would not set shop in my district. With over 74 per cent tribal population (Census 2011), I was neglected and ignored. No one put faith in me and never imagined that progress was possible within my region as well. While the world visits many regions of Rajasthan, they would not had even heard about me. 4 Yes, I had shortcomings. Yet, – Swachh Bharat Mission (DPC- I had strengths as well. My SBM) set the stage and started terrain is hilly, but is a sight to getting their teams together to behold. My people belong to the implement the action plan. Along tribes and are driven and hard the way, they got into partnerships working. My people believe in with organisations such as change, change for the better. United Nations Children’s Fund That’s the reason, I began to (UNICEF), Financial Inclusion change, against all odds. Simply, Improves Sanitation and Health because I wanted to change! As (FINISH) Society, and Nehru this thought took birth, an idea Yuva Kendra to receive support also started germinating. This in community mobilization and time, it had to work! This time, behaviour change. As the journey change had to be brought in. And began, more people joined in finally it did. The idea of Ruparoo such as CBOs, Nodal Officers of Dungarpur started germinating Gram Panchayats (GPs), frontline and the message started making workers of departments and its way through the convoluted Field Coordinators of partner paths. agencies, District Resource Group (DRG) members, Zila Pramukh, In August/October 2014, the Members of Legislative Assembly district administration started (MLAs), Pradhans, Sarpanchs, making plans to achieve the Ward Panchs and over 25 Supply target of making Dungarpur vendors from across different ODF. The District Collector, blocks. Chief Executive Officer (CEO)- Zila Parishad, Sub-Divisional This long chain of passionate, Magistrates (SDMs), Block hardworking and driven people Development Officers (BDOs) worked day and night to change and District Project Coordinator mindsets that had never been 5 The Spiritual Disconnect Bhanwar Lal Rot is a Sarpanch of Venja village.