Sulabh Swachh Bharat - (Issue 50) by Sulabh International Social Service Organisation

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RNI No. DELENG/2016/71561

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Good News Weekly for Rising India trump village

marora

India’s first village to have celebrated World Toilet Day in Haryana

Vol-1 | Issue - 50 | Nov 27 - Dec 03, 2017 | Price ` 5/-

real champs

swachhta

The people honoured by the government for their contribution in the Swachhta movement

bollywood

not just fun

Many film celebrities have become committed to the cause of Swachhta

champions of Sanitation

Since the inception of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, many in the country have risen up to the ocassion and have become shining examples of real-life swachhta heroes Swastika Tripathi

ack of sanitation is a silent killer which stunts growth of a nation. Diarrhoea itself kills 100,000 children every year. Insanitation causes loss of dignity and security to women. It is estimated that it causes a loss of six per cent to the GDP every year. The idea and possibilities of what India can do if there is no open defecation are tremendous. But the challenges in India are far more complex. India is culturally diverse, it is more densely populated, there is scarcity of water, and there is stigma associated with emptying pits which even Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, could not help the country erase. Despite all these obstacles, India has witnessed time and again various heroes of cleanliness who have walked on the path shown by Gandhi and triggered and/or

The idea and

possibilities of what India can do if there is no open defecation are tremendous and India has witnessed heroes of Swachhta

Quick Glance India has witnessed various heroes of cleanliness through time Mahatma Gandhi’s firm stance on sanitation is the driving force for SBM India’s swachhta icons have changed public perception

participated at large in initiatives, campaigns, movements, or to sum it up – reformational activities – for a cleaner and better India today and tomorrow. These icons have changed the way not only India but the entire world looked at and thought of the topic of Cleanliness and Sanitation. Mahatma Gandhi once very aptly said that “cleanliness is next to Godliness”, and Godly deeds should never go unnoticed and unapplauded. These deeds should remain imprinted in our minds for long, sometimes even as long as forever. Thus, Sulabh Swachh Bharat decided to do what the media does best – influence minds and if done right, inspire people, by way of revisiting the reforming tales of cleanliness and celebrating the heroic deeds. To celebrate these Godly figures of India motivating people to hygienically sparkle the lengths and breadths of mother Earth by making cleanliness and sanitation drive as their prime forte, SSB dedicates its 50th edition to 50 figures of a ‘Sulabh’ and ‘Swachh’ India.

02 Narendra Modi

November 27 - december 03, 2017

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narendra modi

The Prime Minister ofa Swachh Bharat PM Narendra Modi has triggered a national movement with his mantra – ‘Na gandagi karenge, na karne denge’

Quick Glance PM Modi has made cleanliness a national movement He launched Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2, 2014 ODF, open defecation free India, is now a trend on Twitter

Swastika Tripathi

“B

e the change you wish to see in the world” – These golden words of Mahatma Gandhi have been accurately adopted and executed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who, thus, even after holding one of the highest offices of the nation, picked up a broom, took to the streets of India and triggered a mass movement – ‘Swachh Bharat’ Mission. Ever since taking over the Prime Ministerial office three years back, Narendra Modi has after continuous efforts echoed the voice of cleanliness across the country by giving it the shape of a national mission on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 in 2014. Our society has always shied away from talking of sanitation in public. We have always complained about widespread dirt and uncommon filth but did very little about it. It is safe to say that the ‘cleanliness loving yet hardly caring’ people had gone immune and blind to the indignity of open defecation till Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his

Government data shows that open defecation has been reduced by almost 30 per cent, from 69 per cent to 38 per cent, in three years

first Independence Day speech brought it front and centre of the national discourse. He united India to be part of a ‘janandolan’ (people’s movement). It stirred people’s consciences and kickstarted national activities. Narendra Modi himself initiated the cleanliness drive. Picking up the broom to clean the dirt, the Prime Minister said people should neither litter, nor let others litter. He gave the mantra of ‘Na gandagi karenge, Na karne denge.’ From the Day-1 of his cleanliness drive, the Prime Minister has attempted that ‘Swachh Bharat’ does not rest as a mere government initiative. He has been of the view from the beginning that the aim of Swachh Bharat can be truly achieved only when the interest of the government will be shared with the society.He is of the belief that “Clean India won’t come true even if 1,000 Mahatma Gandhis, one lakh Narendra Modis, all CMs and governments come together... It will be done by 125 crore Indians”. When Prime Minister Modi launched the National Campaign

for Cleanliness on October 2, 2014, nobody had imagined it shaping as a unique movement of independent India. Initially it drew criticism from all quarters. The mission was politicised by some as one of the hidden national agendas of the government, while some critisised it as an act which would be very difficult to blossom in Indian conditions. This year on October 2 ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ completed its three years. On this occasion when the campaign was once again in talks all over the place, the related reports to the mission became media headlines. The reports suggested that this national campaign has become the biggest mass movement of the country till date. The numbers have been encouraging. Government data shows that open defecation has been reduced by almost 30 per cent, from 69 per cent to 38 per cent, in three years. According to official statistics, more than 85 per cent of people are now using toilets.The possibilities of what India can do if there is no open defecation are tremendous.

Some of these changes are beginning to be seen in public policies. Waste is no longer seen as a burden but as a resource, a business opportunity. Visual cleanliness is being encouraged with the ‘village swachhata’ index allowing self rating with an increasingly extensive questionnaire. Technology is being deployed effectively to monitor and verify change, through government apps made in collaboration with enterprising NGOs. More than that, corporations and foundations are joining together in making it a genuine people’s movement. “Today, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India campaign) is no longer that of Bapu, nor that of the government or municipalities. I have no claims to make that this is the government’s achievement. In fact, this is an achievement of those Indians who seek cleanliness (Swachhagrahis),” the PM said on the third anniversary of the campaign. The best impact of the campaign is that small children, the future of the nation, have become the ambassadors of cleanliness. They have started awakening the elders of their families towards the importance of hygiene, which has resulted in changes in the nature of people. The manner in which the Prime Minister Modi has raised the issue of cleanliness, it has also been lauded at international levels, especially by the United Nations who has termed it as the biggest campaign of cleanliness in the world. The visionary PM is leading the campaign with the notion that a clean India will be the best tribute to the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of a clean India, on his 150th birth anniversary in 2019. While leading the mass movement for cleanliness, the Prime Minister exhorted people to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a clean and hygienic India. Today ODF or open defecation free India has become a hashtag which shows that the cleanliness campaign has become a mass movement. This in itself is a testimony to the endless and laudable efforts of this new-age Prime Minister. May India rise and shine as an ODF nation and a true example of cleanliness and sanitation!

November 27 - december 03, 2017

Dr Bindeshwar Pathak

Quick Glance

The silent crusader of cleanliness drive

Dr Pathak is known as ‘the Toilet Man’ across the globe He established Sulabh International to do away with manual scavenging ‘Sulabh’s twin-pit toilets’ are being replicated all over the world

Dr Bindeshwar Pathak has paved the way for the biggest sanitation wave in the world Swastika Tripathi

very once in a while we come across people who change the way we look at things and modify the mindset of the humankind for better. One such blessing is Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, a sociologist, reformer, social activist and the spearhead of Sulabh Sanitation and Social Reform Movement. Known as the ‘Toilet Man’ across the globe, Dr Pathak imbibed true to the philosophies of the Father of our Nation Mahatma Gandhi and not only taught the lesson of cleanliness to the society but took it entirely to a whole other level. A society where once even talking of sanitation was frowned upon, today has been introduced to a plethora of technologies on the back of sanitation regime of Dr Pathak and his organisation Sulabh International. Born in a typical Brahmin family of Bihar, Dr Pathak got in ‘touch’ with the ‘untouchable’ manual scavengers, against the beliefs and practices of his family. He took it up on his sleeves to eliminate the

malicious practice of manual scavenging. On the other hand, he also did great work in the field of meeting the cleanliness needs of the common people by ensuring the availability of accessible toilets across the country. With these thought processes on his mind, Sulabh International was established in 1970 and today it has a worldwide identity for the inexpensive technology of toilet construction. Sulabh has done remarkable work to do away with the malpractice of manual scavenging. The idea was getting rid of this inhuman work. To give relief to those scavengers, Sulabh hence developed its Two-Pit toilets technique. Today this technique is known as ‘Sulabh toilets’ all over the world. In this, the accumulated defecation in the first pit turns into compost. Sulabh has constructed around 1.5 million household toilets. There are 54 million government toilets based on Sulabh design. The Sulabh organisation has made 640 towns scavenging free

“I am the son of the son of Mahatma Gandhi, but

Dr Bindeshwar Pathak is the son of Gandhi’s soul” – Professor Rajmohan Gandhi lauds Dr Pathak’s exemplary contribution

and constructed more than 8,500 toilet blocks. Sulabh has also been successful in making gas and electricity through toilets. The 74-year-old champion of the underprivileged people, Dr Pathak, is credited with setting up, without any background in science and technology, the first biogas plant in Patna, Bihar, in 1982 – after about six years of research. This technology too has expanded and is used in over 25 states and union territories in India. Mahatma Gandhi had said that there would be no place for the malicious practice of manual scavenging in India, and thus to turn his vision into a reality, Dr Pathak ignited Sulabh as a mission for his life. Acknowledging the exemplary

contribution of Dr Pathak, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Professor Rajmohan Gandhi had once said, “I am the son of the son of Mahatma Gandhi, but Dr Bindeshwar Pathak is the son of Gandhi’s soul.” Treating sanitation as his mission and human development as his goal, Dr Pathak says, “Sanitation is a mission. It is not like constructing a bridge or a road. I am happy that in my lifetime, I am able to fulfil Gandhi’s dream of eradicating scavenging and improving the living conditions of scavengers.” While the Indian government decided to take up the ambitious project of rise and shine India as an open defecation free nation only three years ago, Dr Pathak had set on the mission five decades back. The laudable fact is that the Sulabh campaign of cleanliness is still up and working in full throttle. Even after five decades of Sulabh, the unending thought process and hard work of Dr Pathak has given the world a new sociology of cleanliness in which there are lessons of sanitation, human love and compassion too. This silent crusader has worked relentlessly for 5 decades, the result of which being that more than 20 million people use Sulabh toilets daily in India and several thousand jobs have been created by the organisation. Thus, no shocker, Dr Pathak is probably the only reformer in India who has bagged the maximum number of national and international awards for his work towards improving sanitation, upgradation of environment, and social reforms. He has been honoured with more than 90 awards across the globe. These include the Padma Bhushan (1991) by the Indian government, the International St. Francis Prize, Italy (1992), Global 500 Scroll of Honor (2003) by UN Habitat, Stockholm World Prize (2009), and the Hall of Fame Award (2008) organised by World Tourism Organization in China. Dr Pathak has paved the way for the biggest sanitation wave in the world. Many of his approaches have been adopted in other countries and Sulabh is actively involved in extending its work in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China and African countries. Dr Pathak seems not to rest till his sanitation regime sets its footprint across households and puts a full stop to malicious and unhygienic practices.

04 Trump Village

November 27 - december 03, 2017

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trump village

Trump Village Gets The Biggest Toilet Pot Model On World Toilet Day A UN recognised event, World Toilet Day on November 19 aims to raise awareness about poor sanitation and defecation in the open

A mega pot of toilet

Urooj Fatima

ith an idea to raise awareness about the relevance of sanitation and hygiene for women’s and children’s health & gender equity and as an expression to make sanitation a priority Sulabh is celebrating the WORLD TOILET DAY 2017 at Trump Village (Marora), Mewat 19 Nov 2017. As the country observed World Toilet Day on Sunday, biggest toilet pot model in the world was unveiled at Marora, popularly known as the ‘Trump village’, in Haryana. The development came in response to improve sanitation facilities across the country. The scintillating occasion is graced by Prof Amitabh Kundu, Visiting professor & Senior Fellow, Institute of Human Development and Delhi Policy Group, Pragasen Ramiah, Chairperson, Sulabh International Centre For Action Sociology, South Africa, Dilip K Hathibed, Member of National Commission For Safai Karamcharis Government of India, Puneet Ahluwalia, Member of Trump Asian Pacific Advisory Committee, Republican Party and as a chief guest Prof. Shyam Lal, Former Vice Chancellor, Patna, Rajasthan & Jodhpur Universities as the Guests of Honor. Chaudhary Hasan Mohd, ExHome minister, Haryana, Chaudhary Khursheed Rajaka, President, Vikas Samiti Mewat, Mohd Iqbal, Zila Parishad, Shiv Kumar Sharma, BJP Minister, Chaudhary Khalil Ahmad and Zahid Husain presides over the function. Open defecation is most widespread in countries that also have the highest

Quick Glance For the first time India observed ‘World Toilet Day’ in a village The PM’s picture of laying the foundation stone for a toilet is inspiring The new two-pit toilets require lesser water for flushing

made up of iron, fibre, wood and plaster of Paris measuring 20x10 feet was unveiled in the hamlet to mark the World Toilet Day

number of deaths for children aged five years and under, as well as the highest levels of malnutrition and poverty, and large disparities in wealth. In a bid to mobilise its ongoing efforts against open defecation NGO Sulabh International Social Service Organisation built and unveiled toilet pot model in Marora village. Sulabh Sanitation and Social Reform Movement founder Dr Bindeshwar Pathak and other dignitaries inaugurated the “biggest toilet pot of the world” model and dedicated another 95 new household toilets to the residents of the village. The new toilets require lesser water for flushing, and the excrement will be converted into manure. Along with the biggest toilet pot, two other toilets had also been inaugurated at the event, i.e. Domestic Toilet and VIP toilet. Dr Pathak also gifted 158 solar lamps to children of the village who complained about the electricity problem and how because of that they are not able to study properly. Apart from inaugurating individual toilets, two books on the use of toilets and sanitation were also released “Sulabh Magic Toilet” and “Donald Trump Village.”

The nondescript village, with a population of 1,800, in Mewat region was in June rechristened as “Trump village” by NGO Sulabh International Social Service Organisation in a gesture to US president Donald Trump ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington. For the first time in the country, ‘World Toilet Day’ was observed in a village now popularly known as Trump Village in Haryana. The initiative was taken to create awareness towards sanitation and use of toilets. Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak said when he named the village Marora as ‘Trump village’, only 20 houses had toilets and people in the region opted for open defecation. A mega pot of toilet made up of iron, fiber, wood and plaster of Paris — measuring 20x10 feet — was unveiled in the hamlet to mark the World Toilet Day. “Each Sulabh Magic Toilet will cost around Rs 40,000 and it is going to help not only in keeping the village open defecation free, but will also socially uplift the area. We wanted to build toilets that work, and this technology is workable in the rural areas. As a result, the grooms in the village will also be now able to find themselves a bride,” said Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder,

Sulabh International. The quaint village of Mewat had hit headlines when the organization went ahead not just adopting it but also renaming it as Trump village dedicating same to US President Donald Trump. The distinguished guests of the event got together for a photo op. Thereafter they were requested to take their seats on the dais. They were felicitated by Dr Pathak with Shawl, garlands and memento and bouquet. The function started with the Swasti Recital by Vedic Scholars and welcoming of the guests by putting Tilak on their foreheads with the blowing conch, followed by a panoramic photograph. An instrumental performance by an Army Band ‘Panther’ and students of Sulabh Public School and children of Village holding Sulabh oilet model and placard with the message written “Sulabh ne kiya neek kam, Trump rakh diya Marora ka naam”, “Sab log karo gungaan, khule mein swach se sabko nuksaan” etc welcomed the guests of honors. Dr Bindeshwar Pathak in his welcome speech felicitates the distinguished guests of the occasion and briefs the audience on his eventful life journey through thick and thin. A street play is presented by the students of Gargi College. The play was an educative effort at discouraging open defecation and raise awareness about cleanliness and hygiene. “It’s a symbolic gesture to inaugurate a large toilet pot at Trump village to mark the World Toilet Day to create awareness

November 27 - december 03, 2017 among people towards the use of toilets and safe sanitation,” Pathak said. He said the large pot replica would be moved to Delhi’s Sulabh Toilet Museum. Dr Pathak had in June announced in Washington his decision to adopt Marora. He had said the move was aimed to encourage businessmen to adopt villages in India to promote sanitation. Since then, Sulabh International has carried out the construction of toilets for every household and set up of a vocational training centre for girls in the village. “Organising a programme in a remote village of Haryana on the World Toilet Day was a promotional concept in connection with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to make villages in India free from open defecation on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary year in 2019,” Dr Pathak said. “Trump’s slogan is ‘Make America Great Again’ and our Prime Minister’s credo is ‘Make in India’, so I thought why not make a humble beginning honouring the friendship of the two,” he said. Dr Pathak said he hoped the move would win enough attention and goodwill to raise awareness for a major social problem. Puneet Ahluwalia, a member of the ruling Republican Party of the US, speaking on the occasion, said the initiative would go long way to motivate masses towards cleanliness and safe sanitation. Screening of documentary The popular motivational number from the repertoire of Sulabh ‘Hasna Mera Kaam’ on Dr Pathak’s Two-Pit Compost Toilet Technology highlights hygiene practices special focus on enabling girl students to attend to school thus raising their attendance at educational institutions in villages appreciably. The system saves one from hazards of open defecation like snakes bites and inclement weather. Women especially are accorded a dignified and safe way of going about ablutions any time of the day. Don’t Don’t Don’t Go for Open Defecation’, yet another number in English is written by Dr Pathak is being presented and a small documentary film on the importance and hazard of open defecation. The act underlines how open defecation increases incidence of cholera and typhoid, which can be checked by inexpensive Sulabh toilets. There were four dance performances by the students of Sulabh School, three children of Marora village Abdul, Chaaya and Rabiya prepared speech in English in the honor of the dignitaries and talked about the life of Donald Trump. Group of girls from Sulabh Silayi centre of Marora dedicated the song to Dr Pathak

same was done by group of musicians. According to the report, women and girls are among the worst hit, with 50 million of them lacking access to basic sanitation. Notably, a total of 52 million household toilets have been built between October 2014 and November 2017. “But there is still a long way to go”, says the report, titled “Out of Order”. “Reaching all 1.28 billion people in India with basic services is a huge challenge. According to the World Health Organization(WHO), two in five health centers lack basic sanitation, putting patients and health workers at risk of infection”, it said. Globally, the report highlighted that one in three people still do not have access to a decent toilet. Quoting government data, the report states that Swacch Bharat Mission has been able to improve access to sanitation. Toilets save lives because human waste

leaders on his longstanding countrywide work of providing affordable, ecological, on-site waste disposal toilet systems. “To re-brand Marora as ‘Trump Village’ is an exercise to promote and put in larger global public domain the initiative to sync in with the vision of the Indian PM Narendra Modi to make Indian villages free from open defecation by the deadline, of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in the year in 2019,” said Dr Pathak. “I am a follower of Gandhi but Bhakt of Modi because he is the first person after Gandhi who has worked in the field of sanitation and hygiene and trying to make India ODF,” Dr Pathak further added. WHY EVADing talk on TOILET? The world toilet day is important for social awareness and human

Organising a programme in Trump Village, Haryana on

World Toilet Day was a promotional concept in connection with PM Narendra Modi’s vision of an ODF India spreads killer diseases. For that to be achieved, it is needed that everyone’s poo to be contained, transported, treated a disposed of in a safe and sustainable way, said Amitabh Kundu. why the NAME ‘TRUMP VILLAGE’ Dr Pathak, who is an acclaimed champion of sanitation the world over, had announced that a village would be named after the US president to give a fillip to the Indo-US relationship. “I announce to name one village in India as Trump Village.” The Sulabh founder urged the IndiaAmerican community to help realize the goal of sanitation and cleanliness in India while giving his presentation to local

development. 200 years back the meaning of toilet in French was ‘cosmetic room’. Now the word toilet is used for defecation “Why we avoid talking about the toilet in a civilized conversation? As it is an essential part of our daily life. Dr Pathak brought this topic to the limelight and made people understood its importance. If world toilet day is accepted globally then how come the conversation about it would be uncivilized, “said Amitabh Kundu The picture of PM adding the brick for the construction of Sulabh Magic Toilet should be the source of inspiration for us, he added. He said, “We should develop a positive attitude about the toilet. According

Trump Village

to the World Bank Monetary Report, the child and women mortality rate is lower in those areas where cleanliness and hygiene are on the top of priority list compared to the places where it is not. Everyone should focus on the importance of sanitation and women literacy, it is not the responsibility of Dr Pathak alone.” DIVAS OF INDIA Dr Shyam Lal said that there is a social message behind all the ‘Divas of India’. It carries the message and work of great people which should be passed through generation. Like the message of Mahatma Gandhi of ODF India. He further said, “The major problem India is facing since the time of independence is open defecation and manual scavenging. Dr Pathak is the only person who took the initiative 50 years back to work for ODF India and people working as manual scavengers which should be appreciated globally.” He made people aware of the fact that Dr Pathak took the scavenging sisters of Alwar village to UN to introduce them. He even wrote a book on them named ‘Princess of Alwar’. DR PATHAK A SOCIAL AMBASSADOR “You are a brilliant light and I am so honoured that you have enriched my life, enriched the life of trump village. The relationship of India and the US is good for the safe world that is the reason why Dr Pathak realized to make the make Marora a model village,” said Punit Ahluwalia. He said, “My focus is that I want to convey a message to Indians who are settled in the US to adopt villages like Marora and make the country clean and ODF. Help in fulfilling the vision of PM Narendra Modi.” Apart from empowerment the sociocultural bridge between India and US by Dr Pathak should grow not only on trade and defence but also on a social-cultural way, lift the women of both the countries and make India a better and safer place to live, added Ahluwalia. He advised all the developing countries to opt for this Sulabh technology of Two-pit toilet because this is organic and simple. He called Dr Pathak a social and cultural ambassador. A STORY OF THREE DREAMERS Mahatma Gandhi developed the philosophy of ODF society. Dr Pathak was inspired by Gandhi went out on his mission some 50 years ago. So in doing he invented twin pit toilet. You also need power and influence to make India ODF So you have the dream of Mahatma Gandhi, you have the dream of inventory Dr Pathak and PM Narendra Modi with the influence and power along with the dream, told Pragasen Ramiah.

06 Champions of Sanitation

November 27 - december 03, 2017

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swachh pioneers the corporates

The Real Champs Of Swachh Bharat The shining examples of dutiful citizens and groups who devoted their time to SBM and have made a difference

Lt Gen Vinod Vashisht – National Cadet Corps

The Plastic Man of India – Dr R Vasudevan

NCC, under the leadership in India. Holding awareness rallies, of Lt. Gen. Vinod Vashisht, street plays, seminars, and lectures with a mass base in rural across India, the cadets also and urban areas took up the task of distributed public health material Swachata on a war footing with a with the help of civil administration, total of over five lakh eighty thousand cleaned statues of national leaders cadets participating. and made posters to spread awareness More than 10,000 institutes about swachata. including NCC Directorates The National Cadet Corps has participated in the been actively engaged campaign. The NCC he Swachh Bharat More than 10,000 int has been a major Abhiyan. The cadets contributor to the insitutes, including from NCC have not Swachhta efforts. been engaged in NCC Directorates, only NCC Cadets have cleanliness drives but been carrying out participated in the have also organised these activities as programmes to cleanliness drives other part of social spread awareness responsibility and about cleanliness. community development. The The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is enthusiasm shown by NCC Cadets very close to NCC and the cadets also inspired the locals to join in to perform these activities as part of make the Swachh Bharat Mission a social responsibility and community great success. development of NCC curriculum. The cadets carried out cleanliness The cadets took a pledge to devote drives at historical monuments and atleast two hours every week towards all the cadets pledged for cleanliness Swachata.

r Rajagopalan Vasudevan’s, few offers from private companies both the Plastic Man of India holds within and outside the country to sell the patent for plastic-mixed the patent. “But I think it my duty to bitumen roads that have been serve my country first and therefore, I employed to lay over 20000 kilometres gave it free to the Indian Government.” of roads across the country today. What he laments is the slow progress, Other than being decidedly more “the plastic binding with bitumen is an durable, plastic roads create cause zero ideal option for roads that bear the seepage of water. brunt of torrential What’s more is that rains.” Also, he Dr Vasudevan’s while 1 ton of bitumen underlines, if citizens costs around Rs. Plastone is stronger treat their waste properly by 55,000, plastic only and demands Rs. 20,000 than granite due to segregating the plastic, for the same quantity. its sturdiness and collecting the country will soon Explaining the qualities of his patent, better load capacity be free of plastic litter and boast safer and Plastone, Dr Vasudevan said that it was stronger than granite better roads. His department is now due to its sturdiness and better load evolving a cold process technology as carrying capacity. It could assume a well. The Department of Science and look as good as granite with a glossy Technology has sanctioned a ‘green surface. The equipment needed for chemistry’ project at TCE for making Plastone blocks using shredded producing a ‘cold emulsion’ to coat the waste plastic and aggregate had already aggregate instead of using hot bitumen. been installed at the college and an Such a process would be highly useful in laying roads in cold regions. improved version was also getting Widener University, ready. The added advantage of Philadelphia, has Plastone was that a one-foot block already shown interest with one inch thickness consumed in the cold process. 1.5 kg of waste plastic, including PET bottles, he said. Fifteen PET bottles would go into the making of one block. There was 32 to 40 per cent utilisation of waste plastic in Plastone whereas it was 0.5 per cent in road laying. Fifty tonnes of waste plastic was required for laying a onekm road. According to a report of the Central Pollution Control Board, the country generated three lakh tonnes of waste plastic in a year. Even as his technology was being debated in the government, Dr. Vasudevan then started receiving a

November 27 - december 03, 2017

Champions of Sanitation

The New Garbage Guru – Colonel (Retd) Suresh Rege

Mailhem is now one of the leading solid waste management companies in India with 323 plants

olonel (retired) Suresh Rege, 67, founder of Mailhem Engineers had served in the Indian Army for 20 years before retiring in 1990 to set up a solid waste management company in 1995 combining his entrepreneurship with the spirit of community service.Back then, biogas meant goober gas to the common Indian man and the concept of waste management is a foreign. Mailhem is now one of the leading solid waste management companies in

Water Warrior – Anoop Ratnaker Rao

ao started out as a hospitality management guy who worked at the Ritz-Carlton in Dubai, serving the world’s most jet-setting crowd. 17 years down the line, a lot ha changed. Anoop Ratnaker Rao is reaching out to rural India that is still thirsting for clean drinking water.As CEO of Naandi Community Water Services Limited (NCWS), Rao and his team make sure that a daily supply of about 100,000 litres of potable water, on a low monthly subscription, is available to around 500,000 people residing in 350 villages across six states. Rao is reaching out to India’s bottom 25 per cent living in villages and thirsting for safe drinking water. As CEO of the social enterprise Naandi Community Water Ser vices Limited (NCWS), established in Hyderabad in 2010, Rao and his team are ensuring a daily supply of about 100,000 litres of potable water to 500,000 people in 350 villages across six states. The enterprise, which sells clean water on a low monthly subscription, rather than distributing it for free, is changing

mindsets about the value of clean water. “Paying a nominal amount, rather than waiting in endless lines to fight over a limited supply, is making villagers realise that clean drinking water is our best health cover,” says Mohammed Yousuf, a science graduate, who is in charge of the water c e n t re at Vavilalapally, a village in Telangana’s Nalgonda district. In recent years, cases of bone deformity among children have been reported from the area due to high fluoride content in water.NCWS installed a drinking water plant here that has now become an integral part of the lives of the villagers. It signs a Memorandum of Understanding with the gram panchayat, generates awareness about water-borne diseases, forms wateruser committees and works with the villagers until they learn to successfully govern their own assets. Consumers buy a 30-day pre-paid card for supply of 12 or 20 litres per household per day. The price varies between 10 paise and 25 paise per litre depending on the location.

Rao is reaching to India’s bottom 25 per cent living in villages and thirsting for safe water

India with 323 plants across the country treating 223,912 tonnes of waste. Mailhem’s plants can be seen at Parliament Ho u s e, the Vaishnodevi temple, and companies such as Wipro, HAL and TCS in Bengaluru. Mailhem, along with the JV French Partner Lhotellier Ikos Group, is currently in the process of setting up large size waste to energy plants and carrying out the capping of dumpsites and landfills. Companies like Mailhem have been crucial to SBM.

Tech Icon – Sharad Kale

anting to spread the message of Swachh Bharat to rural Karnataka, Sharanappa, a folk artist from Koppal in Karnataka decided to use traditional tunes to spread the message. I have kept the dustbin at the dining table,” says Sharad Kale, a biologist whose invention, Nisargruna (debt of nature), has changed common perspectives on the treating of biodegradable waste. “For you, it is a dustbin, but for me, it is Nisarg Lakshmi (richness of nature).” The retired scientist from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, has been instrumental in encouraging people to degrade wet waste with inhouse solutions. He has developed several “cultures” made up of natural wastes like leftover food, leaves and banana skin. A bucket filled with this culture works as a base for the degradation process. The culture mixed with biodegradable waste produces good quality fertiliser in six months. “It smells like first rain and is free of insects,” says Kale. Around 45 years ago, Kales mother taught him to worship a broom as she considered it equivalent to richness. Since then, Kale has not thrown his household garbage out. He degrades it in the house. His personal war against garbage took a professional turn in 2001 when he developed Nisargruna as a challenge.

Then BARC director Anil Kakodkar asked him whether he could find a solution to the foul odour generated from the garbage in the company premises. Kale nodded in affirmation and demanded a fund of Rs 5 lakh to develop the technology. “In the next hour, Kakodkar sanctioned the fund and I began working on it,” Kale says. The first Nisargruna plant was set up in BARC itself. At present, more than 300 such plants are operational across the country in premises such as the Tata Group as well as the Indian Navy. Anyone can buy the technology from BARC for Rs 25,000. It costs approximately Rs 14 lakh to set up a one tonne garbage treatment plant. At Matheran, around 70 km from Mumbai, 150 street lights beat the power shortage. Thanks to the Nisargruna plant set up by the local municipal council, it not only keeps the town clean of biodegradable wastes but also generates 130 KW of electricity per hour.

Kale has been instrumental in encouraging people to degrade wet waste with inhouse solutions

08 Champions of Sanitation

November 27 - december 03, 2017

The Real Champs Of Swachh Bharat

N Chandrasekaran – Tata Consultancy Services

IA L S P EC

Rakesh Kapoor – RB (Formerly Reckitt Benckiser)

CS has announced that it will boost the enrolment rate and reduce finance the construction of the dropout rate of girl students in hygienic sanitation facilities the adopted schools, and in turn, for girl students in 10,000 schools. It improve learning outcomes. has earmarked Rs 100 crore for this “TCS is committed to the Prime project. However, TCS is yet to Minister’s ‘Swachh Bharat’ initiative decide upon the schools, area, or of ensuring safety, dignity and partners to start this equality for all girl whole exercise. students. We are TCS earmarked a happy to have TCS had earmarked a budget of Rs.100 building budget of Rs 100 completed crore for building toilets in about 1000 crore for building schools,” said N dedicated sanitation facilities for girls in dedicated sanitation C h a n d r a s e k a r a n , selected schools. The CEO and MD, TCS. initiative aims to facilities for girls The country ’s largest software exporter said it has built toilets for girls in about 1,041 schools in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar in the first phase of the sanitation drive. After promising to build toilets in 10,000 schools at a cost of Rs 100 crore, the company has constituted a special task force, it said. For maintaining and cleaning toilets, the company has aligned with two maintenance partners across select states, it said. Providing hygienic sanitation for girl students will have a tangible impact on the level of education and in the long run, play a larger economic role in the communities and development of India’s next generation.

Pooja Dhingra – Swachh-ified

for ‘Always carry a water bottle’, B for ‘Bleed into a menstrual cup’, C for ‘Compost kitchen waste’… H for ‘Heal naturally’…T for ‘Turn the tap off’…and Z for ‘Zip in travel essentials and reduce your travelling waste’. “Cut the Crap” is Pooja’s venture in educating people about the consequences of waste mismanagement and suggests what measures we can take to minimise our

footprints on the environment. Pooja says that her primary inspiration for this project was the waste outside her housing colony and the waste pickers who lived in this trash. She saw that the pickers’ children would play with garbage simply because “They enjoy it.” The 26 alphabets, usually learned during kindergarten have been ‘Swachh-ified’ by Pooja Dhingra, a 38-year-old graphic designer from

eciktt BenckiSER has • Drive behaviour change towards partnered with NDTV and hand hygiene, through numerous Facebook to spread knowledge awareness initiatives such as the on hygiene and sanitation. Christened School Hand Wash Program and the ‘Dettol – Banega Swachh India’ Young Mother’s Program programme, it will • Improve sanitation work to collaborate RB collaborated facilities by working with NGOs to with NGO partners to with NDTV and construct and maintain identify areas across toilets. They have Facebook to launch the country, to suppor t the roped in Amitabh and Bachchan as the the Dettol - ‘Banega development maintenance of ambassador for the Swachh India’ cleaner toilets ‘Banega Swachh India’ “This takes the campaign. Dettol Banega Swachh India” is a Dettol Banega Swachh India project 5-year ambitious program to address to the next level. There’s a lot the rising need of hygiene and of emphasis on Varanasi, which seems sanitation in India. RB has made a to be leading the country’s commitment to invest a sum of INR cleanliness drive,” Reckitt Benckiser 100 cr. towards this initiative, which regional director, South Asia, Nitish Kapoor. will aim to:

The 26 alphabets, usually learned during kindergarten have been ‘Swachh-ified’ Delhi. She decided to spread awareness on the issue in a creative way after being bothered by the way waste was managed in her colony. People like Pooja show just how creatively problems like sanitation can be tackled effectively.

November 27 - december 03, 2017

Robotics – Students of IIT-Madras

Champions of Sanitation

group of brilliant minds at IITMadras created 45 Swachh Robots. The ‘Swachh’ robots take only 15 minutes to clean up an area of 750 square feet and are controlled via Bluetooth over an Android app. The 45 robots demonstrated their mechanized cleaning prowess in a field. Armed with fast rotating ‘jhaadus’ (scrubbers), the robots could easily clean an area the size of a badminton court. Each robot has high speed motors to run the rotating scrubbers. The scrubpads direct dust into a suction mechanism that is later collected in a vaccum tunnel. These ‘Swachh’ bots could even be used to contribute and help eradicate manual scavenging and also help replace humans in cleaning sewer waste. Their ambitious project and demonstration made headlines as they created a new Asian and Indian record for deploying the largest number of robots for sweeping an area.

Brilliant IIT-M students not only designed Swachh robots but also broke Asian and Indian records

Over 270 students of IIT-Madras like Shagnik Pal (right) participated in the Center For Innovation Work shop wherein they came up with the blueprints for the project. The demo of the ‘Swachh’ robots was monitored by representatives of the Asia Book of Records and the India Book of Records, who later gave a provisional certificate as an award to the students after they successfully demonstrated how robots can be involved in India’s mega cleanliness campaign – the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

The Toilet Titan – Dr Siddeek Dinesh K. Sarraf (Ex CMD) – Ahmed, Eram Scientific Solutions Oil & Natural Gas Corporation

nown as the ‘Toilet Titan’, Dubaibased Siddeek Ahmed, is the brilliant innovator behind India’s first electronic public toilets. His group has constructed 2,500 automated public toilets across the nation. He participated in Swachhathon 1.0 where he received an award for his inventions. The lack of public sanitation facilities in his home state and in other parts of India prodded Saudi Arabia-based businessman, Siddeek Ahmed, to toy with the idea of an electronic toilet project in Kerala. In union with a small but bright team of IT professionals at Eram Scientific Solutions, Ahmed introduced the e-Toilet in 2010. It was not just the design and the look of these swanky stainless steel toilets that was unique. The e-Toilets not only looked unique with their stylish stainless steel bodies but hosted a multitude of functionalities- coin-operated pay-to-use format, self-flushing facility after usage, automatic cleaning of floors, and even a sanitary-pad dispenser. Also, the in-built water tanks can hold 225 litres of water.

ike many top organizations, ONGC has shaped its own version of Swachhata in its own model. The energy bellwether took a broader perspective in implementing Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan. It was felt that only constructing toilet may not provide a total sanitation solution in the schools. After successfully completing the construction of toilets under Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan , ONGC has taken a step forward by carrying out School Led Total Sanitation (SLTS) initiative through Aroville

Foundation in all 5592 school across India at a cost oRs 7.83 Cr. The project aims at addressing the behavioral and habitual changes among the students and local public. Operation & Maintenance of the school toilets through community/ parents, teachers association has been established in 3003 schools by 31.03.2017 and efforts are under progress in other schools. ONGC is the only company to initiative Information, Education, Communication (IEC) activities in 5592 school across India. ONGC was assigned the target for constructing 7958 school toilets across the country. To implement this mega project within the time frame ONGC constituted a two tier team, one at the corporate office and other at the ground zero who were called Ground Level Facilitation Team (GLFT). The GLFT played an important role in day to day monitoring and implementation of the project in coordination with the team at corporate level. The project was implemented through Sulabh International Social Service.

ONGC was assigned the target for constructing 7958 school toilets across the country

“Things were difficult as we were foraying into a highly nascent, nonglamorous and neglected sector. But we were determined, so we set up an R&D based social enterprise called Eram Scientific Solutions. We sought to develop an indigenous technology which could target users in the Indian context. Soon, we came up with eToilets that were simple to use and maintain. Features like unmanned pre-flushing, automatic flushing and platform cleaning, inbuilt water tanks, sensors for water and power conservation and coin-operated entry helped serve the purpose.”

The e-toilets developed by Eram Scientific are India’s first electronic public toilets

10 Champions of Sanitation

November 27 - december 03, 2017

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The Real Champs Of Swachh Bharat

Vijay Chadda – Bharti Foundation

harti Foundation has committed to invest Rs 100 crore for the construction of girls’ toilets in Ludhiana over the next three years. Called the ‘Satya Bharti Abhiyan’, the programme aims to bring sanitation to households in Ludhiana. The Foundation will construct nearly 30,000 toilets. It will also improve the sanitation facilities in government schools in rural Ludhiana. The Foundation will make use of students from its Satya Bharti schools to reach out to households in the rural areas of Ludhiana and educate them about cleanliness. Vijay Chadda, CEO of Bharti Foundation in 2014 during the Banega Swachh India 12-hour cleanathon committed Rs. 100 crores to build toilets in India. The company was established in 2000 with a vision to help underprivileged children and young people of the country realize their potential. Speaking in an interview Vijay Chadda added, “It’s not about m a k i n g statement; it’s about getting things done on ground. I am happy ‘Swachh India’ as a movement is gaining popularity now, people have actually started coming together to make this initiative a success.”

“I am happy that Swachh India as a movement is gaining popularity now and is becoming a success”

Sanjiv Mehta – Hindustan Unilever

Bharti Foundation as a company has already undertaken an educative initiative ‘Satya Bharti School Program’ which aims to provide free quality education to rural underprivileged children. In addition to it, on August 18, 2014 the company also decided to spend Rs. 100 crores for ‘Swachh India’ initiative. The programme covers rural Ludhiana and the aim is to provide every rural house there a toilet and to build a separate toilet for girls in

government schools. According to the estimates done by the company in early 2014 based on the data available at that time, for the first phase of ‘Swachh India’ moment, it was expected that around 30-35 thousands toilets need to be built in rural Ludhiana. The Bharti Foundation has been involved in such work since its inception and has only ramped up its efforts to serve the people since the inception of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

industan Swachh Aadat, Hindustan Uniliver Swachh Uni lever, Bharat is a launched the behavior change under the program convening leadership of Sanjiv ‘Swachh Adat, the efforts of some Mehta, is approaching its commitment to Swachh Bharat’ in of HUL’s leading brands Lifebuoy, Swachh Bharat line with SBM Domex and Pureit. Abhiyan through its W hile creating Sustainable Living Plan campaign, which is its blueprint sanitation infrastructure towards an for sustainable growth. They are in Open Defecation Free nation is a talks with the Municipal Corporation must, the role of Behaviour Change of Greater Mumbai to build hygiene programmes to compliment it is as centers in slums. They have already necessary. This program emphasizes on taken a piece of land on lease, and will construct their hygiene center bringing about change in basic which will have toilets, bathrooms, behaviour and actions adoption of laundry and water recycling clean habits (Swachh Aadat) can facilities. All of these will be at a lead to a clean India (Swachh cost, and HUL think that if the Bharat). Hindustan Uniliver has not concept proves successful, they will only helped with the sanitation launch similar centers in other slums efforts of Swachh Bharat but has also been instrumental in spreading too. Hindustan Unilever Limited awareness on the issue through launched an initiative in line with other CSR activities. The company the Indian Government’s Swachh is committed to serving the country Bharat Abhiyan named ‘Swachh and help make India free of open Aadat, Swachh Bharat’ (SASB). defecation. “Projects like these do translate This program was started to support and encourage good health and into consumers buying more hygiene practices at an individual hygiene products but the big impact level which would eventually spread will be in the long term. Our to larger masses. Keeping in mind immediate priority is to change the range of obstacles that one faces consumer behaviour,” Kapoor said. in India related to water, sanitation He added the Swachh Varanasi and hygiene (WASH), the program project will span several activities is an endeavor to help India realize and will be part of the Rs 100 crore the goals of Clean India Mission by that will be spent on the cleanliness campaign over five years”. 2019.

November 27 - december 03, 2017

Champions of Sanitation

Sutirtha Bhattacharya – Coal India Limited

Coal India has earmarked Rs 235 crore for the construction of toilets in schools

n response to PM Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Coal India Limited, under the leadership of Su t i r t h a Bhattacharya, has earmarked Rs 235 crore from its CSR funds towards the construction of toilets in schools and for the underprivileged. In all, it will construct 6,000 toilets in the next five years. In the first phase, 400 toilets will be built in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, UP and Assam. The

Anil Manibhai Naik – Larsen & Toubro

t the launch of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, L&T announced that it would build 5,000 toilets for the underprivileged. It will use its in-house expertise in engineering, construction and infrastructure to realise this task, which will be carried out by its CSR body, the L&T Public Charitable Trust. Observing that the objectives of L&T’s ongoing wp programme were aligned to the mission of ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’, A.M. Naik, Group Executive Chairman, Larsen & Toubro, said that the Company would set in motion the process of building 5000 toilets. L&T Public Charitable Trust’s investments will cover water supply and distribution, sanitation facilities, healthcare facilities and skill training institutes. An L&T press release said the company would leverage its strong presence in the engineering, construction and infrastructure sectors, to reach out and build social infrastructure for the weaker sections of society. In the last year alone, it has impacted over 8 lakh beneficiaries through various social interventions. Over two and a half lakh children have benefitted through education programs that focus on enriching learning, while also providing hygienic sanitation facilities

Guenter Butschek – Tata Motors

in schools. Pre-school programs also benefit to children at anganwadis and balwadis. In addition, over 5 lakhs individuals benefited from L&T’s healthcare programs and 45 thousand unskilled youth per year were made employable through skill training institutes set up by the company. These actions flow from the belief that helping people from the lower strata of society and school drop-outs to acquire the skills to earn a living is more beneficial in the long run than just doling out aid. L&T has definitely been instrumental to the success of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the overarching goal to end open defecation in India.

L&T announced that it would build 5,000 toilets for the underpriveleged

schools where these toilets will be built have been identified and work on them will start soon. Coal India is currently focusing on b u i l d i ng community toilets and toilets in schools. Coal India’s commitment to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is evident when one sees just how much of an impact this orgnanisation has had on the status of open defecation in India. Coal India will be building the toilets in collaboration with various NGOs in the concerned states.

Tata Motors spent 5.17 per cent of its post-tax profits on various CSR activities

or its CSR activities, Tata Motors largely concentrates on healthcare and education. In the last financial year, it spent around 5.17 per cent of its post-tax profits on various CSR activities. It has been supporting the construction of toilets in rural India even before the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched. To support the above initiative, Tata Motors, under CEO Guenter Butschek, launched its own sanitation project that aims to end open defecation in India. The goal of the on-going project is to create Nirmal Grams (open defecation

free v illages) throughout our country using sustainable measures.

The initial phase of the project covered three villages in South Gadra Panchayat of Jharkhand, namely Jaskandih, Rahargora and Tupudang. A survey that was conducted in these villages in 2012 revealed that out of 594 households, 261 were without a toilet. In order to achieve the dream of a cleaner India, they commenced the construction of toilets in the individual houses. So far, Tata Motors has built 146 toilets in these villages.

12 Champions of Sanitation

November 27 - december 03, 2017

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The Real Champs Of Swachh Bharat

B. C. Tri pathi – GAIL (India)

Ambati Sudhakar Dabur India Limited

responsibility programmes, entailing an expenditure of Rs 27 crore. With today’s l au n c h , the construction work has been kicked off at four districts – Khordha (243 toilets) and Nayagarh (132) districts of Odisha, East Godavari (336) in Andhra Pradesh and Jhabua (310) in Madhya Pradesh. In total, 1,021 toilets will be constructed across India. Commenting on the initiative, Tripathi said, “GAIL (India) Limited is committed to improve the hygienic sanitation facilities for girls at schools as a responsible corporate citizen of the country. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan will leave a positive impact on AIL (India), as a part of its public health in the long run. contribution to the Swachh Accordingly, we have undertaken the Bharat Abhiyan, said it will drive to construct 1,021 toilets across construct 1,021 toilets in government India. Separate toilet facilities for schools all across India. These girls in schools would also help in facilities will be mostly for girl bringing down the dropout rates students. The first work started at a drastically and will eventually lead to school in Gandhar in Gujarat. After increasing the female literacy rate.” the launch of the T r i p a t h i initiative, work started announced that in simultaneously in GAIL will construct addition to the Khordha and Jhabua renovation of the 1,021 toilets in districts in Madhya toilets in the school Pradesh, Nayagarh in in Pahaj village of schools across Odisha and East Bharuch district of the country, Godavari in Andhra Gujarat, GAIL Pradesh. The total cost would provide mostly for girls of the construction is computer laboratory expected to be Rs 27 and equipment to crore. the school. The company would also GAIL Chairman and Managing provide support for the school’s Director B C Tripathi initiated the augmentation to high-school level. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan at GAIL by He said GAIL would support launching the renovation work of sustainable development of water, toilets at the Government School of sanitation and garbage disposal Pahaj village near the GAIL Gas facilities in Pahaj village on a Processing Plant at Gandhar in sustainable basis by promoting Gujarat. The GAIL supported Girls infrastructure and encouraging Toilet work is being undertaken community involvement for their under the company’s corporate social operations.

n the day the training programmes S w a c h h Dabur launched it’s to the youth in these B h a r a t own ‘Swachh Toilet, villages”, Dabur India Abhiyan was Head — Global Swachh Bharat’ launched, Dabur Human Capital and launched its own A Sudhakar campaign on the CSR, ‘Swachh Toilet, said. same day as SBM Swachh Bharat’ The company campaign to provide further said that it has germ-free toilets across the country. It also identified five other villages in plans to run an awareness campaign Uttar Pradesh, six in Uttarakhand and about cleanliness at all Sulabh toilets. two in Himachal Pradesh for In addition, it will contribute Re 1 construction of household toilets. from the sale of its toilet cleaner Last year, the company had product towards building toilets. announced plans to construct nearly However, it has not decided upon the 1,000 household toilets as part of the target areas where the toilets will be Swachh Bharat mission. built. Dabur India said it has already Dabur India said it would adopt constructed close to 600 toilets under five villages in Uttar Pradesh and this initiative. The company has also make them ’Open—Defecation Free’ decided to financially support the within the current fiscal. poor households in construction of The five villages to be adopted by toilets in their homes. Dabur has not Dabur India are Nandpur, Nagla only been buildig toilets for the Gajju, Naraina, Nidhawali and underpriveleged but has also Domatikri. supported such families financially. Under the programme, the “Projects like these do translate company will ensure that all into consumers buying more hygiene households in these five villages have products but the big impact will be in toilets. Besides, the 20—odd schools the long term. Our immediate in these villages would get separate priority is to change consumer toilet blocks for boys and girls, Dabur behaviour,” Kapoor said. He added India said in a statement. the Swachh Varanasi project will span “Our idea is to turn these villages several activities and will be part of into model villages and offer them a the Rs 100 crore that will be spent variety of services, from operating on the cleanliness campaign over health posts to offer vocational five years”.

November 27 - december 03, 2017

Little Champs of Sanitation

little champs Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Swachhta Is Literally Child’s Play For These Young Heroes The children of India have been crucial to the success of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. They are the biggest ambassadors of the movement mihir paul

ven Prime Minister Modi believes that children are the biggest ambassadors of the Swachh Bharat Mission and that their contribution has been absolutely vital for it to thrive. “Kids have become the biggest ambassadors of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. There are many young children whose contribution I have seen on social media. Earlier, teachers used to get questioned for making children clean classrooms. Now, this has played a huge role in the movement. The kids are applying this in their homes as well, making sure cleanliness is maintained. If they can do it, why can’t adults?” he said, while addressing the Swachhta Hi Seva event. Talking about open defecation and the need to build and use toilets, Prime Minister Modi stated that while our society is accustomed to certain ways of life, there is a need to bring a change to this, adding that every stage of development involves collective contribution from the society as a whole. “In many places, toilets have been built for use. But in one such instance, when I went back to inspect the usage, I saw animals tied up inside. Any development is impossible without cooperation from the society. There is a need to be more accountable and responsible, especially as leaders,” he said. Tushar The credit for making Kumhari village in Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat district, open defecation free goes to Tushar. Tushar, the 8-year-old swachhta champ suffers from a congenital speech and hearing disorder. Tushar was not in favour of the age-old tradition of open defecation in his village. He saw many people in his neighbourhood practice open

defecation, and belying his age and physical condition, he decided to take on the challenge to fight open defecation. Tushar knew if he wants to end open defecation in his village he will need to educate his villagers. First, he started getting up at 5 AM every morning and before going to school, went from door-to-door simply to tell masses not to defecate in the open. Via simple hand gestures, he would ask people not to opt for open defecation. Covering 30 to 40 houses every single morning, Tushar went around Kumhari village to catch the open defecation defaulters. Armed with a whistle as his tool, he would stop people from open defecation. On spotting, the Swachh crusader used to continuously blew his whistle till they stopped defecating. Today, thanks to Tushar’s efforts, the village has successfully eradicated open defecation. Bilal Ahmad Dar

When tragedy struck, teenager, Bilal Ahmad Dar was forced to give up education and earn a living to support his family. Hailing from Lahawapora village on the banks of Wular river, he lost his father in 2007. With negligible opportunities available, he was forced to become a ragpicker. His morning started on his canoe navigating the vast expanse of the Wular Lake to pick up waste including polythene, plastic trash and floating carcasses. The young boy alone has cleaned up around 12,000 kg waste annually from the lake. Moved by his efforts, the Jammu & Kashmir government has

appointed him as the brand ambassador of Srinagar Municipal Corporation. He will now travel across the Valley campaigning for cleanliness and for preserving the beauty of the Valley. His efforts, even got applauded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his 36th edition of his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat. PM Modi congratulated Bilal Ahmad Dar for his swachhta efforts.

Quick Glance Children have been instrumental towards the success of SBM Many children around the country have taken up the cause of cleanliness These children have worked tirelessly for cleanliness and ODF

Monidrita Chatterjee

Jharkhand government has felicitated Monidrita on India’s 70th Independence Day this year.

A young girl from Jamshedpur started a sanitation crusade after being disheartened by the conditions of sanitation and cleanliness in her community. She saved every penny she could, including the money that she could have splurged during festivals, just to build toilets for girls in the rural areas. In 2016, this little swachhta crusader saved around Rs. 24,000 and built two toilets for the children of Kendradhi village. And, that was just the beginning. Monidrita Chatterjee, the 12-year-old then thought of building toilets with waste products like plastic bottles and fly ash in order to work on two major issues in India – sanitation and waste management. She saved around 3,000 plastic bottles in order to build two plastic toilets in Garur Basa village. Today, Monidrita along with her parents has successfully built more than six toilets in different parts of the city and her plan is to expand slowly and steadily to provide a toilet to as many people as possible. Impressed by her efforts,

Dikshita Khullar Moved by the figures of food waste in our country, Dikshita Khullar, a class 12 student from G.D. Goenka Public School , New Delhi made a prototype of a ‘magic-fridge’ which can run without electricity and can help combat food wastage issues. The young innovator has simply used bricks, sand, jute bags and bamboos to make this prototype of the magic-fridge which can hold up to six crates or 120 kg of vegetables and can keep the veggies fresh for seven days. Her innovation consists of one big rectangular structure constructed with bricks and another small rectangular structure that is built inside the big rectangular chamber. Using the basic science phenomena, some space has been left in-between both of these structures, and the gap has been filled with sand. The upper part of the chamber IS covered with the bamboo lid and that’s all that there is to this simple innovation. All the user has to do is water the chamber every 2-hours because that’s what will keep the inside area cool. This chamber can keep the temperature 10-15 degree Celsius lower than the outside temperature and maintain about 90% relative humidity.

14 Statistics

November 27 - december 03, 2017

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what figures say

Stating Statistics With the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan transforming into a mass movement, states and union territories have ramped up their efforts to reach their SBM goals. The Centreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s official government portal has been providing real-time figures of progress.

Punjab Individual Toilet Constructions: 26,778 Community and Public Toilets: 857 Cities declared ODF: 2 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 1,012 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 1,358.9

gujarat Individual Toilet Constructions: 4,96,787 Community and Public Toilets: 14,637 Cities declared ODF: 171 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 1,528 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 23,848

Maharashtra Individual Toilet Constructions: 6,19,040 Community and Public Toilets: 89,068 Cities declared ODF: 217 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 748 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 13 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 18,592.2

Tamil Nadu Individual Toilet Constructions: 4,37,543 Community and Public Toilets: 14,265 Cities declared ODF: 50 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 9,482 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 8,174.7

haryana Individual Toilet Constructions: 34,029 Community and Public Toilets: 3,273 Cities declared ODF: 80 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 412 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 882.7

Chhattisgarh Individual Toilet Constructions: 2,90,345 Community and Public Toilets: 15,380 Cities declared ODF: 168 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 1,013 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0

Andhra Pradesh Individual Toilet Constructions: 1,94,919 Community and Public Toilets: 12,486 Cities declared ODF: 110 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 3,172 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0

rajasthan Individual Toilet Constructions: 1,99,862 Community and Public Toilets: 4,018 Cities declared ODF: 11 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 3,885 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 7,531.4

goa Individual Toilet Constructions: 3,466 Community and Public Toilets: 6 Cities declared ODF: 0 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 214 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0

kerala Individual Toilet Constructions: 29,055 Community and Public Toilets: 1,110 Cities declared ODF: 21 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 1,280 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 2,068.4

madhya pradesh Individual Toilet Constructions: 4,57,416 Community and Public Toilets: 20,806 Cities declared ODF: 383 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 5,036 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 11.4 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 1,478.5

Telangana Individual Toilet Constructions: 1,37,684 Community and Public Toilets: 901 Cities declared ODF: 24 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 764 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 12 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 17,792

Karnataka Individual Toilet Constructions: 1,00,193 Community and Public Toilets: 4,345 Cities declared ODF: 24 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 2,962 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 16,824

November 27 - december 03, 2017 Jammu and Kashmir Individual Toilet Constructions: 3,838 Community and Public Toilets: 624 Cities declared ODF: 1 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 989 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0

Uttarakhand Individual Toilet Constructions: 5,315 Community and Public Toilets: 1,034 Cities declared ODF: 13 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 515 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0

Himachal Pradesh Individual Toilet Constructions: 938 Community and Public Toilets: 34 Cities declared ODF: 6 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 167 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0

jharkhand Individual Toilet Constructions: 2,08,525 Community and Public Toilets: 2,506 Cities declared ODF: 22 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 346 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 26,139.4

uttar pradesh Individual Toilet Constructions: 2,90,266 Community and Public Toilets: 15,588 Cities declared ODF: 6 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 4,688 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 26,139.4

Statistics

skkim Individual Toilet Constructions: 794 Community and Public Toilets: 20 Cities declared ODF: 1 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 28 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0

west bengal Individual Toilet Constructions: 2,80,456 Community and Public Toilets: 183 Cities declared ODF: 0 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 1,360 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 12,314.9

bihar Individual Toilet Constructions: 1,22,173 Community and Public Toilets: 1,202 Cities declared ODF: 1 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 2,588 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0

arunachal pradesh Individual Toilet Constructions: 8,637 Community and Public Toilets: 9 Cities declared ODF: 0 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 18 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0

assam Individual Toilet Constructions: 21,000 Community and Public Toilets: 53 Cities declared ODF: 0 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 119 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0

meghalaya Individual Toilet Constructions: 817 Community and Public Toilets: 15 Cities declared ODF: 0 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 16 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0 tripura Individual Toilet Constructions: 3 Community and Public Toilets: 0 Cities declared ODF:0 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 38 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0 odisha Individual Toilet Constructions: 30,595 Community and Public Toilets: 1,052 Cities declared ODF: 0 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 1,286 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0

nagaland Individual Toilet Constructions: 5,697 Community and Public Toilets: 165 Cities declared ODF: 0 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 19 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0

manipuir Individual Toilet Constructions: 3,487 Community and Public Toilets: 140 Cities declared ODF: 5 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 130 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0

mizoram Individual Toilet Constructions: 2,281 Community and Public Toilets: 22 Cities declared ODF: 16 100% Door to Door Waste Collection: 264 Waste to Energy (In MegaWatt): 0 Waste to Compost (In Metric Ton): 0

November 27 - december 03, 2017

Cleanliness & good sanitation in schools is a matter of high importance

IA L S P EC

saurabh singh Saurabh is a growing journalist

VIEWPOINT

Narendra Modi

mahatma Gandhi and the Sanitation Mission Mahatma Gandhi had the vision all along that a country simply politically free means little unless it is free of its own filth

mahatma gandhi

The soul of a humanist

It was not just for his leadership of the freedom struggle that we revere him... it is his great humanism of liberating manual scavengers

ohandas Karamchand Gandhi... That was what he was christened as by his parents. That was what his peers in England, where he learnt law, and in South Africa, where he practiced it, used to address him as. This man came to India and, what every child knows, led the freedom movement and liberated India. But there have been hundreds of such liberators of various countries, none of whom are called the Mahatma, the elevated soul, and revered across continets and cultures. So what exactly was great about this soul? It is his thinking beyond politics, and it started well before he landed in India under British rule. Even as he had a flourishing practice in South Africa, he insisted that a person ought to clean up his own mess, and not force, or even pay, someone else to do it. One of the early among many shocks for spouce Kasturba was this point, but she saw the point too.Back in India, the socio-political struggle at Champaran, that gave birth to the concept of Satyagrah, was accompanied by his teaching people to clean up their homes, hearths and surroundings. Much before him, Swami Vivekananda had observed that Indian’s only believe in keeping themselves and their homes clean. Gandhi’s greatness was realising, and stating, more than 100 years ago, that India will never achieve real freedom unless it learnt to atting cleanliness. And the great humanist visualised the liberation of manual scavengers so long ago.

Editor-in-Chief

Kumar Dilip Edited, Printed and Published by: Monika Jain on behalf of Sulabh Sanitation Mission Foundation, owned by Sulabh Sanitation Mission Foundation Printed at: The Indian Express Limited A - 8, Sector -7, NOIDA (UP) Published at: RZ - 83, Mahavir Enclave, Palam - Dabri Road, New Delhi - 110045 (India) Corporate Office: 819, Wave Silver Tower, Sector - 18, NOIDA (UP) Phone: +91-120-6500425 Email: editor@sulabhswachhbharat.com, ssbweekly@gmail.com

ll through his life and work, Mahatma Gandhi insisted on cleanliness of conduct as well as of the mind. Just as violence for him meant both action and also thought. The idea of sanitation for him was not merely theoretical. For Gandhi, purity was also a physical reality. It meant revolutionary ideas like asking the ‘higher’ castes to clean up their own latrines. If Gandhi ever touched Uka, the scavenger at their home, his mother, Putlibai, made him take a bath. But Gandhi would argue with his mother: “Uka serves us by cleaning dirt and filth, how can his touch pollute me?” The plight of the people who cleaned people’s houses but were subjected to harsh discrimination in society, disturbed him to no end. He quoted the religious texts to explain how Lord Rama had embraced Guhaka, a ‘chandal’ who was considered a ‘low’ caste. In the first issue of ‘Harijan’ Gandhi had published a poem by Tagore titled ‘Scavenger’. But the people who were in the habit of viewing sanitation merely as daily bath and cleaning their house ‘at the cost of littering up the neighbour’s’, would take a long, long time to understand him. The irony of the Indian mind-set was, and probably still is to some extent, that to clean-up is not their job. Much before he became an iconic figure in India, Gandhi had continued to voice his childhood concern as to why should someone else be responsible for our filth. In South Africa, Gandhi had set an example by doing the scavenging work himself. He tried convincing the Indians there that one lesson

to be learnt from the West was to keep our surroundings, particularly our toilets clean. In contrast to the Western counterparts, the Indian people’s living quarters were smelly, littered with rubbish and filth. In Johannesburg, Gandhi spoke to other Indians about the need to clean their own toilets regularly to prevent disease and bad health. During his visit to Tolstoy Farm, he found that the inmates were themselves responsible for cleaning jobs. Later in India, Gandhi pointed out that the homes of the so-called ‘untouchables’ were much cleaner because of this very practice of taking responsibility. Many homes of the rich and the educated were cluttered, dusty and full of unseen bacteria, leading to various diseases simply because the inhabitants were not bothered. After his return to India, during the Congress sessions in Calcutta and the other cities, Gandhi continued to place weight on the subject of sanitation even as he discussed the national and the political issues. For a country that prides itself on spirituality, the temples and pilgrimage sites were found shockingly filthy. Gandhi pointed out the irony in ignoring the smelly, slippery streets outside temples in Benaras, Calcutta and Hardwar. While visiting universities like Benaras Hindu University and Tibbi College in Delhi, Gandhi spoke to students about the need to keep our famous cities clean. Many times Gandhi’s morning prayer- meetings included a ‘sermon’ on the need to clean up one’s latrines! The state of water bodies

On Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, Swachh Bharat Mission was launched by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi

November 27 - december 03, 2017 and sacred rivers too worried him. Although there was great respect in their hearts for rivers, temples and pilgrimage places, people rarely thought about keeping them clean. People used river banks for open defecation, bathed and washed, and drank the water from the same place. In towns and villages, it was commonly seen that drinking water was obtained from ponds in which the cattle were washed. The village well was good but required periodic cleaning to remain so. All such precautions were rarely taken by people. Gandhi’s close associates like Miraben and Sardar Patel among many others carried on his work wherever they went. At Segaon, Miraben spoke to the public telling them about the important link between sanitation and the meaning of dignity. At the All India Compost Conference in 1948, the leaflets that were distributed said that human waste if recycled well was like gold: “Compost is matter well planned”. Nehru was one of those who cleaned toilets in Gandhi’s ashram. Gandhi’s respect for those who kept the surroundings clean was such that he dared the Brahmins to boycott him for welcoming an untouchable couple to live in the Sabarmati Ashram. In the Congress Party, there was a proud group that called itself the ‘Bhangi squad’. God was not responsible for mankind’s diseases, said Gandhi. If the environment was kept clean, diseases would stay away. Instead of blaming their fate for illness and physical suffering, if they were cautious, they would stay healthy. Therefore, those who cleaned toilets were not outcastes but ’Purifiers’, Gandhi wrote. And he saw himself, he said with pride, first and foremost as a ‘sanitary inspector’! Typically bad ‘Indian’ habits of spitting on the streets annoyed him. He also criticized the routine way in which people urinated on the streets. Blowing the nose anywhere too is a habit that spreads diseases . Epidemics spread in villages and cities due to such practice which is seen as normal. In ‘Harijan’ he constantly published articles about such matters. On Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, Bharat Swachhta Abhiyan was launched by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. It was a tribute to the man who had recognized the value of sanitation a century and more before the world woke up to see it. Gandhi was the man who did not waive the subject aside as less important when the country was struggling for political independence. Today WHO and UNICEF and other organisations are repeatedly underlining the association between sanitation and economic progress. Gandhi, the visionary, had worked all his life not just for his country’s political independence but also its future. He had worked not only for constitutional freedom but also real social equality. He had insisted upon the cleansing of our actions, our minds, and also our toilet which, in an article published in Navjagran’ in 1925, he declared, was more important than our drawing room!

mihir paul

Oped

Get Spiritualized!

Mihir Paul is a graduate of Philosophy and Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States

In a world of religions, cults, gurus, and monks, one must evaluate what spirituality really means

upfront

pirituality isn’t a specific practice that one takes up. It is simply – a way of being. And just how the branches of a tree meet at the trunk regardless of direction, similarly, spirituality has many paths all leading to the same realization. Cultivating one’s mind, body, energies, and emotions to a level of maturity leads to the blossoming of spirituality within one’s being. An immature state of being doubts the process. Only when maturity is achieved in thinking, perceiving, and being, only then can one see everything in a completely different light. Loving themselves and loving others is the highest priority for people that are spiritual. A spiritual person spontaneously cares about everything and everyone in their reality – people, animals, and even the planet. This is the direct result of a realization of oneness within all things in the manifest universe. A spiritual person consciously honours this oneness with their intentions, words, and actions. Virtues of kindness, compassion, joy, peace, love, and humility come naturally to

a spiritual person. There are many people who do not practice a religion, who do not meditate, pray or belong to any group, who are very spiritual people. These people naturally do caring things for others. They think about how they can help. Their thoughts are kind rather than judgmental toward themselves and toward others. When you look at them, you see kindness in their eyes. One doesn’t have to practice a religion, meditate, or even pray to be spiritual. One can simply be kind and be caring towards others and that is already a very spiritual way of living. If we keep our thoughts compassionate

rather than judgmental, we are being spiritual. We simply need to look at ourselves and everything else differently. Being mindful of our intentions and actions towards others is a great way to start. If you want to be a spiritual person, you just need to let the kindness and compassion flow and flood your being. Let love be your guiding light. Love towards yourself, love towards others, love towards animals, and love towards the beautiful planet that we inhabit. We simply need to recognise the divine spark within us that manifest as unconditional love and honour that divine spark and experience oneness with all that is. In the serene world of spirituality, one is often comforted by the realization of the transitory nature of life that no matter what one is, where one comes from, or where one goes, life is ultimately impermanent and one’s only objective in life is to be an expression of unconditional love that is the glue that holds the universe together.

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IN THE WORLDNS OF CLEANLINESS “THERE ARE TWO ICO PATHAK AR HW DES BIN DR GANDHI AND MODI” ter Narendra Modi Dr Bindeshwar

Pathak pens the

life and legend

of Prime Minis

Quick Glance The book was previously in Delhi

released

r Pathak Author Dr Bindeshwa times of the PM captures the life and on The book was released d November 17 in Ahmedaba

’s life into of the Prime Minister his untold unravels photographs and several initiatives stories, struggles and he took oath as taken by him since in 2014. country’s Prime Ministerbeen released The book has already a Janta Party once earlier by Bharatiy Amit Shah and (BJP) President, sevak Sangh (RSS) Rashtriya Swayam at Mavalankar Bhagwat Mohan Chief, Hall in New Delhi. Minister released The Gujarat Chief occasion of a the book on the p on National preparatory workshoy of Sanitation, Seminar on SociologInternational, on organised by Sulabh Thakorbhai Desai November 17, at Ellisbridge, in Hall, Law Garden, occasion, Prof this Ahmedabad. On Vice Chancellor of Dr Shailesh Zala, kumar Sinhji Maharaja Krishnaty, Ahmedabad Bhavnagar Universi Solanki, Sulabh MP Kiritbhai Reform Social Sanitation and Dr Bindeshwar Movement founder Vice . The book is on Sulabh’s Senior ceremonial ‘laddoo’ the Indian Prime Pathak and Kumar were also of a riveting book President Abha the life and legend tribute to the same,the market. I SWASTIKA TRIPATH has made its way to Minister Vijay Minister. Pathak, present. of the book, war release the Bindesh on Dr Speaking Penned by Gujarat Chief n and war Prime that Prime Minister along with Dr Bindeshbook Founder of Sulabh Sanitatio ANY have lauded Vijay Rupani said ignited the minds Rupani book for the nt, table Modi Reform Moveme released a coffee Minister Narendra Narendra Modi has awareness Pathak, ra Damodardas Modi – The Social lly captures various incidents his commendable beautifu ss which has – “Narend with 568 kgs of Making of a Legend” campaigns over cleanline the world. In a made its voice across

Lets save earth! The article ‘Saving Earth’ is a very nice article but raises some difficult questions. When we talk about EV or other alternatives for transportation we forget that

the hard work that has gone in developing them makes them expensive, resulting in raised costs, harder for the consumers to purchase them. A normal rickshaw costs about 20,000. But instead of that, if we want an E-Rishaw, it costs about 1.5 lacs. In that way how can we say that the EV is the best alternative to the traditional means of transport? This applies to other types of vehicles as well. We cannot say that they are good enough without considering the costs. They are costly to purchase and to maintain too. Pratibha Kumar, Bihar Legendary The article “The Living Legends Of Mithila’ Released’ is an interesting article to read . The best part is that Dr Pathak ji

was given the title of Bhishma Pitamah. It is a new kind of a book and is a very different book to read. It is more like an encyclopedia which talks about the various legends and important people who belong or work for the region of Mithila which is believed to be the sacred and holy land where Sita belonged. It is so informative and entertaining that one can be reading for hours without realising how time has passed. It has its own importance and identity. And very few people have classified that all these living legends are interlinked together with respect to this place. It is so entertaining to read such stories with the books that featured here. Rohan Singh, Chandigarh

Please mail your opinion to - ssbweekly@gmail.com or Whatsapp at 9868807712

18 Photo Feature Trump Village’s First WTD The Trump Village in Haryana celebrated its first World Toilet Day. Sulabh International organised a programme at the village that was attended by Puneet Ahluwalia, a noted US Republican Photos: JAIRAM

Puneet Ahluwalia and Shyam Lal inaugurating the ‘biggest toile pot model’

School students from Trump village & Sulabh School holding Placard with the message like Sulabh ne kiya neek kam, Trump rakh diya Marora ka naam”

People of Marora Village thanking Dr Pathak and other dignitaries with this big garland

Nukad Natak by Gargi College Delhi on importance of the toilet and ODF India

Women of Sulabh Silai Center singing welcome song at the programme

November 27 - december 03, 2017

Dr Pathak felicitating Shyam Lal with a memento

Member of Sulabh Family presenting bouquet to Puneet Ahluwalia

Reception of Pragasen Ramiah at the programme

Felicitation of Dilip K Hathibed with a memento

Photo Feature

Amitabh Kundu receiving memento

Chief Guest Shyam Lal addressing audience

Release of two books on the use of toilets and sanitation “Sulabh Magic Toilet” and “Donald Trump Village” by Dr Pathak and other dignitaries

Prof. Kundu addressing the audience

Student of Sulabh School performing Ghoomar

Dance programme organised by the Sulabh School student on WTD

20 Champions of Sanitation

November 27 - december 03, 2017

IA L S P EC

swachh pioneers social workers

True Social Work These exemplary citizens have showed what ‘service before self’ really means. Here we feature some of the stories of the citizens who plunge deep into the country’s issues and dedicate their lives for the betterment of fellow citizens

dr jyoti lamba

university professor from Gujarat, Dr Jyoti Lamba visited a village and discovered that there was not a single toilet available, she didn’t just go home and lament. Instead, she built 6,000 toilets in 34 villages during next 4 years, often at her own expense. “Since last three decades, I am a professor at one of the most prestigious University in the city. Teaching and interacting with students is something which has always made me happy and my life also used revolve around them, until Gandhi Padyatra happened to me in the year 2013. Our university had organised a

Gandhi Padyatra where students and faculties visit villages and understand about their problems. During the visit to different villages, I realized that villagers don’t have toilets in the villages and women are the most affected. Women have to wait till evening, until it gets dark to go for loo and this really saddened me. Once we were back from the trip, our Vice Chancellor Dr Sudarshan Iyengar called and asked me to start a project of building toilets in the villages. This was a huge opportunity to serve my Nation and be a part of making my mother earth clean so I immediately agreed. In January, 2013, I started

my journey of educating and encouraging villagers of Gujarat to build toilet in their homes. Villages were in a big mess and no one was ready to build toilets and as a woman it was tough for me to explain the male villagers about the benefits of having a toilet in their house. It took me seven months to convince villagers to build toilets under the Government Program. It has been 4 years since I have been doing this work without taking a day off and so far, I have helped build 6000 toilets in 34 villages of Gujarat. I will continue to serve my nation this way.” She said.

“I realised that villagers don’t have toilets in the villages and women are the most affected. Women have to wait till evening to go for loo”

S Damodaran

ur country doesn’t have a shortage of zealous men who dedicate their lives to provide basic amenities to their fellow men. S Damodaran, an NGO founder, was recently named India’s Toilet Titan at the Safaigiri awards. His NGO Gramalaya has already constructed 100,000 toilets and helped declare several slums open defecation free. Going by how critical factors are panning out, he is likely to achieve his goal of building 1 million toilets. Gramalaya was instrumental in declaring Thandavampatti village in Tiruchirappalli District as India’s first open defecation (ODF) free village in 2003. Gramalaya has since been working tirelessly to eradicate the practice of open defecation by building toilets in rural areas. His Centre for Toilet Technology and Training has come up with smart, efficient and affordable toilets. He is able to reach

this far because he has worked tirelessly with several governmental and donor agencies to build a sanitation ecosystem. He works with the National Institute of Water and Sanitation, Government of India’s sponsored CRSP, TSC and Nirmal Bharath Abhiyan programs as well. Gramalaya started its urban intervention program in 2000 with financial assistance from WaterAid, UK and collaboration with Tiruchirappalli City Corporation. There were 7 community toilets built

“Gramalaya was instrumental in declaring Thandavampatti village as India’s first ODF village back in 2003”

by Gramalaya with WaterAid grant fund apart from individual household latrines connected with UGDs in the 7 project slums. Gramalaya promoted more than 1,00,000 toilets with various donor organizations like WaterAid, Water.org, Unicef and Arghyam in Tamil Nadu. It also introduced the concept of microfinance for sanitation for the first time in India and successfully scaled up microfinance for toilet constructions through the Guardian MFI (Micro financial institution). Gramalaya introduced the concept of Community Managed Pay and Use toilet systems for the first time in India which was replicated in other parts of India by organizations such as Sulabh. It also designed the child friendly toilet (CFT) models for the use of slum children, school children in rural areas along with Anganwadi toilet models.

November 27 - december 03, 2017

Maulana Mahmood A Madani

Champions of Sanitation

KAVITA GAUTAM

n sync with the countrywide sanitation campaign the maulvis and muftis in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab have decided not to solemnise marriage in a house where there is no toilet. Maulana Mahmood A Madani, Secretary General of Jamiat Ulama-iHind said having a toilet has been made a mandatory condition for Muslim marriages in the three states and will soon be applied in all other states in the country. “Maulvis and muftis in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana have decided that they will not solemnise the ‘nikah’ or Muslim marriage in a house where there are no toilets,” he said. Madani, who is

also a former Rajya Sabha MP, stated this during the inauguration of Assam Conference on Sanitation (ASCOSAN) 2017 conducted in Khanapara. “ I feel that all religious leaders from all the religions throughout the country should decide that they will not conduct any rituals in houses where there are no toilets,” he said. Emphasising on cleanliness and sanitation, he asked people to use toilets and also to make not only Assam, but the country as a whole clean. “There are two types of cleaning - one is external and the other internal. Both are interconnected, we will only be able to achieve the internal cleaning if our body is clean,” he said.

avita gautam, a quiet 19year old is a focused student. Her college is 25 kilometres away from her village (Purelalla village, block Rampur, district Jaunpur) and she travels by a bus every day to attend college. But this strenuous routine of going to college does not deter her from taking on the responsibilities of a peer educator. She became a peer educator in mid-2014, encouraged by the field facilitator and at the behest of her Adolescent Girls’ Group members. GARIMA meetings brought a sea change in her and in the girls of her group. Though toilets had been a part of the agenda for the Gram Pradhan, other priorities took centrestage relegating toilets to a secondary place. Armed with the knowledge and information provided to her in

“There are two types of cleaning - one is external and the other internal. And both are intricately interconnected”

“Garima meetings brought a sea of change. The Gram Pradhan also promised the girls that he would get more community toilets made” the GARIMA trainings, and having honed her skills through various sessions of the Adolescent Girls’ Group, Kavita confidently and patiently reasoned with the Gram Pradhan about the importance of toilets for the villagers, especially girls and women, for their dignity and their health. The Gram Pradhan, being a perceptive person, could see the point being made by Kavita and the other adolescent girls. It took a couple of months before a community toilet was made in the village, which could be used by families who do not have toilets. The Gram Pradhan has also promised the girls that he would get more community toilets made, till the time every family has a toilet of its own. This has to a very large extent solved the problem of privacy for the girls. Slowly but surely, Kavita is effecting change in the village with her dedication, taking one step at a time. Her resolve is to continue to bring positive changes in future too.

Pratibha Pal

hief Executive Officer Pratibha Pal was instrumental in making the Narsinghpur district free of open defecation. Her dedication and humility make her an exemplary citizen who personifies the meaning of ‘service before self’. The CEO’s ease of interaction with all types of people in the rural communities she serves has caught the attention of villagers from across the district as well as her colleagues who are keen to emulate her dedicated and down to earth approach. Despite Pratibha’s humbleness members of her team insist that she has played a pivotal role in the district achieving hours together with us on most days of the week,” said Prabhat Kanoje, district renewable energy officer who also

volunteers as a district mobilisation officer for the open defecation free campaign. While this required the CEO and team working over and above their usual working hours Pratibha took it in her stride. “By using technology we were able to keep up with our daily tasks. Since most of the time we were in field, the monitoring of all district Panchayat work and service delivery improved dramatically. My personal

“By using technology we were able to keep up with our daily tasks. The monitoring of all district work improved drastically”

schedule was affected somewhat, but then we had decided to do this within a timeframe and on priority,” she said. Pratiba though is keen to reiterate that the credit goes to her team, and the leadership of her district collector and seniors officials which enabled her to lead the district to achieve its open defecation free status. To sustain the momentum of an open defecation free environment and to advance the rights of children to survival in Narsinghpur district, then we must all embrace compelling WASH (Water, Sanitation and Health) behaviours that contribute to child survival and growth such as continuous toilet use, washing hands with soap, safe disposal of child’s excreta and use of safe drinking water at all times, said Pratibha.

22 Champions of Sanitation

November 27 - december 03, 2017

IA L S P EC

True Social Work Shayna, Shriya, Hitarth & Aashay

group of boys and girls at the Galaxy School in Rajkot, Gujarat realised that, even within their close circle, they were uncomfortable discussing the topic of periods openly. On probing this deep-seated issue, they stumbled across a report by AC Nielsen stating that a mere 12 % of Indian women use pads, while an overwhelming 88 % use unhygienic materials like ash, sand, and husk during their menstruation. Digging deeper to understand why this is such an issue, the students spoke to 70 women in their community and discovered that many cannot afford to buy pads at all. Most use rags and are ashamed to dry the stained cloth out in the sun, so they end up reusing dirty rags.

“The students spoke to 70 women in their community and discovered that many cannot afford to buy sanitary pads”

CULTURAL HANDICAP Under the mentorship of Sakina Bharmal, the students designed a reusable cloth pad that can easily be made by women at home to target the prevalent issue of affordability. Through a donation rally at school, they were able to collect waste cloth and towels for the project. With the

help of their art teacher, they made templates for the pads in three different sizes. FIVE-STEP MANUAL The students made a 5-step manual, in Gujarati and English, to teach women how to make these at home and sterilize them. They first taught

the support staff in their school how to make these pads, and then accompanied them to the Bhaktinagar slum in the city – a community that they were brought into contact with via the social activist Taksh Mishra. After a few such campaigns, the students realised that even the men

needed information about the issue. So they encouraged the women to talk to their husbands and parents about menstruation. The students reached out further to more people in the nearby rural communities. In the process, the students say they learned that change does not happen overnight. To get people to listen to their idea, they had to first build strong connections and garner their trust. The team comprised two girls and two boys – Shayna Shah, Shriya Mehta, Hitarth Raja, and Aashay Rughani. The students also held an awareness campaign to encourage women to openly say, “Yes, I menstruate”. More students are now conversing with a few manufacturers who can produce low-cost pads, says their mentor Sakina Bharmal. They have two objectives in mind. First, they want to empower the women from rural areas by training them to make and sell these pads. This will help these women become financially independent. Second, the students want to continue to break the social taboo and make these pads affordable.

chandrakant damodar kulkarni

hen 67-year-old Chandrakant Damodar Kulkarni wanted to contribute to a good cause, Prime Minister Narendra Modi objected. In a way, what the retired drawing teacher wanted to do was to help the Prime Minister himself. After hearing Modi’s August 15 address to the nation, he wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) that he wished to contribute Rs 5,000 every month towards the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan scheme. In fact, he even sent a few cheques. For Kulkarni, who retired as a drawing teacher from the St. Joseph Boys’ High School in Khadki in February 2007, this was nothing new. Throughout his life, he has donated money to social causes. He has helped pilgrims, he has donated Rs 2,100 every month

for a year to the Sassoon General Hospital in Pune and more. But the cheques he sent to the PMO returned. Officials at the PMO told him that the Prime Minister did not feel it good to accept a pensioner’s money. Kulkarni then informed the PMO that all his family members are independent, nobody is dependent upon him and insisted on donating money. The PMO finally yielded and directed him to send money to the Swachh Bharat fund and not in the Prime Minister’s name. What Kulkarni did next was to

“Kulkarni prepared 52 cheques from September 2015. His total contribution added up to Rs 2.6 Lakh”

prepare 52 cheques from September 2015. The figure 52 has a little story to it. Modi has 52 more months to complete his five-year term and that’s why Kulkarni decided to sign 52 leaves. And his total contribution added up to Rs 2.6 lakh. During his Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi underlined the need for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and then praised Kulkarni, calling him a “real hero”. The PM met Kulkarni recently, who is also a VHP member, and personally thanked him and his family for his efforts. “I still can’t believe that I met Modiji,’’ said the dhoti-clad retired teacher, who taught at St Joseph School, Khadki. He added that it was just 10 months ago when he wrote to the PMO pledging a part of his pension towards the project.

November 27 - december 03, 2017

Social Workers

guidelines Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

How The NGOs Can Help The centre has prescribed a guideline for how NGOs can contribute to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

SSB bureau

he government has prescribed a guideline for how NGOs can contribute to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: 1. NGOs can take up the task of educating the people of rural India about keeping their surroundings clean

2. Some NGOs could play a role in highlighting the importance of SBM to housewives, shopkeepers and small business owners 3. NGOs can also do third party quality checks of infrastructure being created under SBM and also do sample verification on a pre-determined check list 4. NGOs could adopt certain areas/

colonies and take the responsibility of keeping them clean 5. NGOs can set up and monitor waste management systems 6. NGOs could work closely with the municipality to execute a daily cleaning plan in the area 7. NGOs can make house visits and ensure that people understand proper sanitation and garbage disposal techniques 8. NGOs could help in building toilets in rural areas 9. NGOs can be assigned the task of building and maintaining public toilets 10. They could also visit schools to teach the kids the importance of cleanliness in their daily lives 11. NGOs dealing with heath care delivery could have a tremendous role in the area of personal hygiene, optimum use of potable water, basic sanitation etc. 12. NGO’s can ensure people’s participation in Swachh Bharat and put pressure on ULBs to act 13. NGO can be authorized to collect money from houses and use it to arrange for segregation and separation of waste 14. NGOs can submit survey reports on

Swachh Bharat Mission, they may be allocated areas to carry out surveys independently substantiated with videos and pictures on the basis of MOUs between the NGO and the monitoring authority 15. NGOs can also facilitate workshops on how to recycle and reuse nonbiodegradable wastes into livelihood programmes 16. NGO’s can be asked to put up small scale units for collecting garbage and sorting it into different components for processing 17. NGOs can also be given access to the Swachh Bharat city local circles to share community initiatives with citizens and mobilize citizens to help where necessary 18. NGOs should be allowed funding for cleanliness drives and other Swachh Bharat related activities 19. Certain NGOs can also conduct research on specific areas to scientifically dispose wastes, improved toilets, improved composting processes etc. 20. These organaisations can help various societies, colonies setting up unit for decomposing wet waste, water harvesting etc.

initiatives Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Some Others In The Fray Other NGOs have joined the Swachhta Effort and are contributing in their own ways SSB bureau

ome other organisations are also showing their initiatives in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan:

Weldynamics Works in both rural and urban areas for providing bio digester based toilets and changing rooms for women. For corporates, it offers environmental services which are covered under clause 135, of companies act, 2013. These include toilets with and without bio digester, bio gas plant for kitchen waste, toilets for schools, public toilets. Arghyam Arghyam grants funds to organisations, which implement and

manage groundwater and sanitation projects in India. Arghyam has made grants to recipients in 22 states of India since 2005, the year of its founding. Paryavaran Solutions Is engaged in manufacturing and supplying an extensive range of portable toilets. It uses hardwearing materials for fabricating these products, which is transformed by high-tech production systems. These systems are combined with an engineering project, which aims to reduce toilet maintenance, increase safety and generate a good pricequality ratio for the operator. Watsan Envirotech Pvt. Ltd. Watsan Envirotech was started with

Classified Ad

an objective of harnessing technology to make affordable solutions for providing clean drinking water and sanitation. Since 2009, it has been focusing on building up a low cost, power free, maintenance free NGOs Supporting Toilet Movement water fi lterfor thousands.

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film stars social workers

Entertainment Industry Joins Swachhta Efforts The entertainment industry of India has been an active participant of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Here we feature the real-life Swachhta Heroes from the world of Bollywood and beyond. Following the footsteps of Hollywood stars, and responding to their own hearts’ calls, Bollywood celebrities are making their own special efforts for the earth and humans

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Mehra believes in putting his ideas into action. So he took it upon himself to build over 800 toilets in the slum that he’s been shooting the film at for the past four years

ndian Filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is a perfect example of how one can make every individual effort count. The Indian filmmaker has been focusing on creating movies charged with socially relevant themes including sanitation and cleanliness. Mehra’s film – Mere Pyare Prime Minister – revolves around four kids living in a Mumbai slum, one of whom wants to build a toilet for his single mother and makes an appeal to the Prime Minister. But while making films about social issues spreading awareness, much remains to be done. Mehra believes in putting his ideas into action. So he took it upon himself to build over 800 toilets in the slum that he’s been shooting the film at for the past four years. Not only is he revamping the slums by building toilets, he’s also making sure they are maintained well. “We’ve been having meetings with slum-dwellers and corporators of the area, urging them to put Rs. 1 in the donation box so that the community workers can be given their dues,” he told the media. He states that Gandhi’s model toilets at the Sabarmati Ashram

inspired him. The biggest hurdle in his way was the authorisation of Mumbai slums, as they are built on unauthorised plots of land owned

by BMC and don’t have pipelines or water connections. He began filming in a slum in Ghatkopar after which the BMC gave him an NOC to

build 20 toilets there, including five separate toilets for men and women, and also teachers in two municipal schools in the Khandooba area. The project worked in collaboration with NGO, Yuva Unstoppable. “The slum dwellers have TV sets and mobile phones but no toilets and during the monsoons are forced to defecate on the railway tracks. I remember reading a Mirror story about a woman who got run over while defecating on the tracks and wondered, `Is a toilet worth losing your life over?” Mehra asked in an interview Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has now moved shooting to a slum settlement behind the Powai Lake, where the men have been going near secluded pipelines to defecate. “The area gets water for just 3045 minutes a day. We are planning to build adequate toilets in this area too,“ he says, admitting that while the Maximum City has been absorbing immigrants like a sponge, its infrastructure hasn’t grown at the same pace. Mehra has working tirelessly to help improve the sanitary conditions in the city’s slums. The biggest hurdle Mehra faces is that the city’s slums are built on unauthorized land owned by the BMC so he cannot legally build a toilet as there are no pipelines or water connections available. “But I am working on it at the community level, “assures the director who plans to introduce a social card next, whereby anyone, in particular housewives, can give two hours of social work a day to the community. These hours will add up to an accomplishment.

November 27 - december 03, 2017

Amitabh Bachchan

Bachchan said plastic is used only for a few hours or days, and, then we end up throwing it, forgetting that plastic takes 1000 years to degrade itself completely

ndia’s legendary ‘Big B’ has joined the ranks of celebrities going out of their way to contribute to the country’s cleanliness efforts. He has proved that he’s not just a legend in Bollywood but also a legend in social work and community service. The famed Bollywood actor was nominated as the ‘Face of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ and rightly so. His charisma accompanied by the zeal to spread awareness on the issues of sanitation and cleanliness has made waves in the country. From appearing in government sponsored TV ad movies on Swachh Bharat and Open Defecation to actually going down to the streets of Mumbai armed with a broomstick, this actor definitely deserves acknowledgment and recognition for his contributions to the cause. During the NDTV-Banega Swachh India Cleanathon which marked the Rashtriya Swachhta Divas on October 2, Bachchan urged citizens of India to make wise choices and stop using plastic immediately; he added “Today, from Kanyakumari to

Kashmir, there is not even one inch place where humans have not gone. But, the irony is that, with us plastic, air and garbage pollution has also reached to different places. We use plastic only for few hours or days, and, then we end up throwing it, just that plastic takes 1000 of years to degrade itself completely. Today, that plastic is causing huge environmental problems – it is killing our earth, rivers, marine life, mountains and forest. In short it is killing our precious environment that we have got in heritage” The 75-year-old actor also got personally involved in the Versova cleanup drive with Afroz Shah, in a bid to raise awareness on how plastic is choking the planet. The actor also showed his support towards the cause by gifting the beach warrior 2 machines that will further fasten the cleanup process at the beach. On the issue of open defecation in the country the actor said : “Open defecation is a call for various diseases, and, our children can die because of it,” Amitabh Bachchan as he appealed to the citizens of India to eliminate open defecation ahead of World Toilet Day through a video message. He said, “Every year, I ask people to construct or use toilet. This time, I have a special and an important appeal. If you know someone who practises open defecation, go and speak with them. You have to educate them on why they need a toilet at home and how open defecation can kill them and their loved ones.”

Champions of Sanitation

Salman Khan

ne simply cannot overlook this famed bollywood actor’s contribution to the Swachhta mission. Going above and beyond the call, Salman Khan has been actively engaged with communities in Maharashtra to help them rebuild household and community toilets. Salman Khan has not only helped communities with toilets but also with water supply. This just goes to show how India’s citizens are willing to contribute to the PM’s clarion call for swachhta in their own ways. We are trying to get permissions to build toilets if they have space for these,” says Salman Khan. The Bollywood action hero has rebuilt more than 3,000 toilets in the Aarey colony, Mumbai. Last year, the actor was appointed as the brand ambassador for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) campaign; that aims to remove the problems of open defecation in the city. Salman Khan had earlier donated five mobile toilets with six seats each to the BMC and had urged the colony

Salman has has been actively engaged with communities in Maharashtra to help them rebuild household and community toilets

people to stop defecating in the open. During his second visit to the colony, Khan promised to build more toilets and repair the existing ones “For the rest of the houses, we will try to get permissions to build toilets if they have space for it. It feels good to do something for the cause but this is just the beginning. I think there are more than 3,000 houses here and six to eight people live in each of these houses. Also, some of these houses had toilets. We just rebuilt them and gave them water connections.” This initiative has been taken in collaboration with the BMC that had listed 118 locations across the Mumbai city where people still practice the open dedication system. Although, almost 97 of these areas are now open defecation free but still there remains a huge lacunae since 21 more areas still lack proper toilets. Earlier, BMC had declared 12 out of Mumbai’s 24 wards ODF and chalked out an action plan for other wards. Earlier, the actor donated five mobile toilets with six seats each to the BMC and had urged citizens to use them instead of defecating in the open. The BMC’s plans include holding thematic drives with the actor and a short video or a radio jingle promoting the cause. “The actor has a huge social media following and an appeal made by him would surely attract attention,” a BMC official said. Khan has requested BMC to build more toilets in the area and also promised to donate more for the cause.

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Akshay Kumar

his Bollywood actor’s contribution towards the cause of Swachh Bharat and the ODF mission has been nothing short of extraordinary. Apart from acting and promoting his famed Bollywood blockbuster ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’, the actor has went around the country spreading awareness on open defecation. Akshay Kumar even participated in the foundation building projects for toilets in rural areas. Akshay Kumar is not only SBM brand ambassador for a plethora of states but also a vocal advocate of our peoples’ right to sanitation. His movie -- Toilet: Ek Prem Katha roared at the box office, crossing the 125-crore mark, lead actor Akshay Kumar said that he never expected to win the numbers game. “I never wanted to focus on the money this film could make, only the awareness it could create,” says Akshay. Akshay has established himself as an actor who chooses content-driven characters; it’s only a bonus that his films usually cross the 100-crore mark fastest. “With such success, you can’t have complacency. Instead one has a ridiculous amount of responsibility,” he says.

Toilet: Ek Prem Katha roared at the box office, crossing the 125-crore mark, lead actor Akshay Kumar said that he never expected to win the numbers game

“I believe,” he adds, “that the entertainment industry has the power and influence to make India a better, safer, and more hygienic country to love and live [in]. Just by educating the people sometimes via comedy, you can spread awareness on [critical] issues of today, so they can finally be gone tomorrow.” On viewer reactions to Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Akshay says, “The best part of our journey has been hearing, reading and receiving all kinds of wonderful information about women taking a strong stand before a marriage proposal can take place. The ‘No Toilet, No Bride’ rule has taken India by storm.” Hopeful that the film will contribute to the rise of a stronger and more determined generation, Akshay says, “It feels good to hear [of] so many women finally having a safer, more comfortable way of living since the film has released, because now they feel their voice and their choice matters.” Akshay also helped in building a toilet in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh. In sync with the national campaign for toilets in the country, he too, has been promoting toilet building. The actor was accompanied by the Union Minister of Panchayati Raj, Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation, Narendra Singh Tomar. The trio dug pits for building a toilet. The signature toilet model of the Swachh Bharat Mission – The two-pit pourflush toilet, is an award winning model that has been developed by Dr Bindeshwar PAthak, founder of Sulabh Sanitation and Social Reform Movement. The twin-pit model has been a vital element to the toilet building efforts in the country.

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Geeta & Babita

The Phogat sisters have earned accolades in women’s wrestling and have been a source of inspiration for the women of India & create awareness on cleanliness

he duo’s names are familiar to the entire nation. The two sisters won gold medals in women’s wrestling in the recent 2010 Commonwealth Games. Their stories were transformed into a movie that graced the theatres this year. The inspirational story of the two sisters from Haryana winning international medals under the watchful eyes of their father Mahavir Singh Phogat, in a sport dominated by men, was celebrated in the recently-released Aamir Khan-starrer Bollywood film ‘Dangal’. After the success of the movie, the duo received due recognition from the public and the administration and this led them to contributing to the Swachhta efforts by being brand ambassadors for the movement. In order to promote sanitation and cleanliness in the national capital, South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) roped in wrestlers Geeta and Babita Phogat as brand ambassadors. SDMC had already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the two sisters to take its sanitation campaign forward. At a function

at the Civic Centre, the two sisters and Additional Commissioner of SDMC GS Meena signed the MoU in the presence of South Delhi Mayor Shyam Sharma, Chairman of SDMC Standing Committee Shailender Singh Monti and Municipal Commissioner PK Goel among others. Speaking on the occasion, Goel expressed gratitude to the two sisters for accepting the SDMC’s proposal to become ‘Swachhta’ brand ambassadors. “The Phogat sisters have earned accolades in women’s wrestling and have been a source of inspiration for the women of India. They will not only highlight our achievements, but also create awareness on cleanliness.” Goel expressed confidence that with concerted efforts from the SDMC and the two sisters, the corporation will be able to improve its ranking in the ‘Swachhta’ survey. “With the Ho Jaye Do Do Haath campaign, we will be spreading the message of swachhta (cleanliness) in Delhi,” said Babita. The two have been a tremendous inspiration to young women in the country and are already considered youth icons. They will definitely be able to connnect with the youth and inspire the ideals of cleanliness and proper sanitation. The two sisters will also connect with the youth on social media. SDMC will use photos of the two sisters in its print as well as outdoor campaign. Audio clips with messages from Geeta and Babita will be aired on FM radio stations and video clips will be aired on TV channels. Sharma said the decision to appoint the two sisters as brand ambassadors for the campaign was unanimous.

November 27 - december 03, 2017

Champions of Sanitation

swachh pioneers unsung heroes

The Unsung Heroes The stories of ordinary citizens stepping up to the occasion and plunging themselves into the Swachhta movement to serve others

Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sandeep Sharma

imachal Pradesh High Court has recently held that right to sanitation has been now virtually accepted as constitutional right as fundamental rights like the right to water, health, healthy environment, education, and right to dignity are directly related to right of sanitation. A Division Bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Sharma held that in view of ever-expanding definition of right to life, citizen of the country are certainly entitled to civic amenities and medical aid, during the course of his / her travel, which he / she undertakes, by whatsoever mode of transport, on the State / National Highways. The Bench also observed that with a large number of pronouncements having been made by various constitutional courts of this

The court held that the right to sanitation has now been virtually accepted as a Fundamental Right under the Constitution of India

country, more particularly, Supreme Court, Article 21 of the Constitution of India protects right to life as a fundamental right, wherein its meaning / scope has been considerably expanded by the judicial pronouncement, as a result of which, enjoyment of life and its attainment including the right to life with human dignity has been imparted as a basic fundamental

right of citizen of the country. The Court held that it is required to be done at war footing by the respondents to provide public convenience on the State as well as National Highways that too at after certain distances. The Court has issued the following suggestions; • Public toilets can be constructed at places, which could be easily located by the public at large and in this regard sign boards of “ Public Toilets” or “ Private Toilets” should be displayed; • Free services should be provided in

cases of public toilets and charges could be prescribed for private toilets and in all toilets, staff should be provided to take care and maintain the same; • The facilities should be easily accessible by the ladies walking or driving on the roads, and not be dangerous or inconvenient so as to encourage its use by the ladies; • The facilities should have proper disposal system for disposal of sanitary napkins; • It is necessary to ensure the safety and security of women, proper action should be taken against the male members/attendants, if they are found sitting outside the ladies toilets in a drunken state.

Abhay Singh

Protsahan was born as a “motivation school for underpriveleged children who have no education because of financial issues in the family”

T first glance, there’s nothing about Gejha village to suggest it’s anything different from scores of other villages in the Noida area of Uttar Pradesh. While few have some schooling behind them, others have none. A lot of children accompany their parents to work. Because of this, many had to either drop out or miss their school. But the village of Gejha is a witness and a willing participant in a quiet revolution that has the potential to turn around the lives of its residents, especially of its children. That revolution has many elements, but awareness of cleanliness and hygiene are seen as critical and this is being arrived at through education. Little Manisha, all of 11 years, says with a determination in her eyes, “I don’t allow anyone in my family to have food without cleaning hands. Earlier, we used to directly jump on the food as soon as it was served. After we were

taught the importance of cleanliness at the ‘school’, everyone at my home, diligently washes their hands before eating. Even my 3 year old sister, Anjali.” The school Manisha is referring to has been setup by Abhay Singh, a retired Chief General Manager of the State Bank of India, under the name Protsahan. He set up Protsahan when he found children playing on the roads, getting into bad company, bereft of motivation and direction. Protsahan was born as a “motivation school for underprivileged children who have no education because their parents cannot afford to send them to any school. It is also for those students with low self esteem, who wish to excel in their life but never get the required motivation and support from the family and the society. Protsahan-Ek Pathshala, to give it the full name, provides free basic education to the children of Gejha and surrounding villages.

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The Unsung Heroes Rishabh, Prateek, & Nimish

Savita

“The friendship between the three was so strong that soon they earned the sobriquets like “Three Musketeers” and “Three Idiots”

HEY had shared a dream to make India clean and more environment-friendly when they were studying in the US. When they returned home, they turned that dream into reality. They developed an indigenous Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) which may give wings to the much acclaimed Clean India Mission. Hailing from Lucknow, Rishab met Prateek and Neemish from Delhi when they joined the Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad. The friendship between the three was so strong that soon they earned the sobriquets like “Three Musketeers” and “Three Idiots”. But these students had something different in their minds. One day, when they were loitering around in the campus, they saw a machine in which people were shoving empty plastic water bottles, cold drink and juice cans and newspapers, and the machine in return was letting out some coupons, which each one was picking up and going away happily. By the time they returned home they had enough knowledge about the parts and software to be used in developing the machine. They had to import a few parts which were not available in India. THE ROLL OUT They got the software developed

and the indigenous machine was ready to roll to take forward their dream of making India clean and pollution-free. Through this machine we wanted to take forward the Clean India Mission and create awareness among masses against throwing litter in public places and the hazards arising out of that. As of now, the machine accepts only plastic bottles and aluminium cans, but the threesome is now working on a software to include glass bottles, old clothes, newspapers and other garbage and disposables. The machine at Saharaganj is keeping the mall litter-free. People don’t forget to use the machine for disposing off empty water bottles and cold drink cans to get discount coupons for using them in their next visit at shops, eateries and joints. “It is a pleasant experience. Never thought you would get something from disposing garbage,” chuckles Sweety Khanna, a visitor to the mall. The trio is now planning to approach the PMO and Swachh Bharat Mission and different ministries for manufacturing more such machines to be installed at all airports, railway stations and public places to contribute their bit to keep India clean. Now at least they deserve all the support the government can give.

ome months back, in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh, several newspapers carried a story that said that the construction of a toilet saved a family from falling apart. Savita, a 27-year-old Dalit woman, was forced to leave her husband’s house because she was tired of the humiliation she suffered when she had to defecate in the open due to the absence of a toilet in her husband’s house. She came back to her husband’s house after two years of living at her mother’s house. Her husband promised her that he would build a toilet and he fulfilled his promise. Savita had decided not to come back till her husband built a toilet in the house. Gradually, this conflict grew to such an extent that it reached the district court. Savita’s husband went to the court to inform it that he had finally built a toilet in his house. Savita then told the media, “I am happy now as my husband has agreed

to my demand and constructed a toilet in our house. Now, I am returning to his house.” SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT This issue is not just confined to cleanliness, but it is about the dignity of Dalit women and her social empowerment. If we ponder over Savita’s experiences, there certainly appears to be a scintilla of hope of awareness and change that women, especially Dalit women, are bringing in the field of cleanliness.

Chandana

HAT can a 75-year-old daughter-in-law, can gift to her super centenarian mother-in-law by selling her five goats ? She gave the most invaluable gift to her mother-in-law – a toilet. The priceless gift should make those involved in pushing the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan bow their heads in shame. The septuagenarian daughter-in-law had made several rounds to the Gram Pradhan and the Bock Development Officer for getting financial aid for the construction of a toilet in her house for her 110-year- old mother-in-law. A resident of Anantapur village under Malaasa bloc in Kanpur, she took up the daunting task herself. The biggest question before Chandana was to raise money for the construction of the toilet. She

consulted her son, who demured. Both supercentenarian mother-inlaw and septuagenarian daughter-in-law loved their goats more than anything. But Chandana had made up her mind. She sold five goats to raise money for construction of the much delayed gift. For the past 60 years Chandana would accompany Phulmati for defecation in the open twice a day. But for the past few years, age and illness have caught up with Phulmati. Most of the time she would remain confined to four-walls of the family kuccha hutment. “It had become extremely difficult for me to take my motherin-law to a field outside village for defecation, particularly at nights after her illness. A toilet was a must for her,” she points out. Her son bought the building material with the money they got from selling goats. The soak-pit was dug by son Ram Prasad and in four days the toilet was constructed with a door for privacy. “Now she has to walk only a few steps to relieve herself,” claims Chandana with a twinkle in her cataract-blurred eyes.

November 27 - december 03, 2017

Uma Bai

resident of Khandwa district Madhya Pradesh, 68 year old Uma Bai vested all her happiness in her granddaughters. She did not feel good in her house after her husband died but the atmosphere used to be light when her granddaughters visited her. Slowly they stopped coming to her house. Uma Bai has four daughters, two of them have been married in Khandwa district. When asked about the reason for

Champions of Sanitation

Phool Kumari

kalpana yadav

aLPANA Yadav, 24, has been named brand ambassador for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in Etah by the district magistrate and she aims to make the district open defecation free by year-end. The decision was taken after Yadav displayed ‘commitment’ for a hygienic lifestyle despite battling tragedy. Fifteen members of her family, including her brother and grandfather, had passed away in a road accident recently

Sapna Tomar

he invocation of Swachh Bharat speech by PM Modi has become a national movement gradually. How can Bihar remain untouched from the effect? Phool Kumari from Sanjhauli block of district Bikramganj gave her Mangalsutra for mortgage and built the toilet in order to make Sanjhauli block open defecation free.

Neetu Singh

not coming home, elder daughter Urmila’s daughters Jagriti and Gudiya replied they will not come to visit her until she builds a toilet in her house. The answer pinched Uma Bai. The very next day she applied in Gram Panchayat for building a toilet. She borrowed money and constructed the toilet. As soon as she received rupees 12000 as inducement money for making toilet under Swachh Bharat Mission she returned the money to everyone.

resident of Basavanpur village15 km away from Sidharth Nagar district headquarters in Uttar Pradesh informs about the latest and advance techniques of agriculture. Now she has also extended her support for Swachhta Mission. She spreads awareness in her district about diseases that are born due to lack of sanitation. She communicates even more with those who have toilets in their home but don’t use them. Now the village has more than 50 toilets in it. It has been possible due to her incessant efforts.

as shattered by an incident that happened Nunhera village of district Dholpur in Rajasthan. She took a pledge that she will remain barefoot until every house in the village builds toilet. Sapna’s friend was going to fields for defecation when two men forced themselves on her and raped her. That day she resolute that she would not let her fellow women go for open defecation. It is due to her staunch belief that 62 families have built toilets in their home.

Pramod Wagh

ramod Wagh of Rajasthan is a barber by profession. He has coined a different idea so that every house has toilet under Swachh Bharat Mission. He is open to a unique offer for those who use toilets. As per the offer he will shave them for absolutely free of charge for a year. He also intervenes when he sees some one defecating openly. Women of Morena district Madhya Pradesh are conducting a different campaign to prevent

“I

neither had a toilet at my mother’s home nor at my mother-in-law’s home after marriage. Sadly, open defecation was a regular practice but I do not want my daughter- in-law to face a similar problem. So, I constructed a toilet in my house and asked her mother to get a toilet constructed in her house too”, says Shamshun, a resident of Bollavaram in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.

people from open defecation. These women take away the pot of those who go for open defecation. The district administration is also supporting these women. The tinsel town also has laid its creativity in the subject. Superstar Akshay Kumar is shooting for a slapstick Toilet - Ek Prem Katha with actress Bhumi Pednekar in the lead role. The film is directed by Neeraj Pandey. Toilets in houses have become as important as Temples these days.

Shamshun What inspired her to take this initiative was the Swachh Bharat Scheme. There have been many such

paragon in different states who have achieved open defecation free badge, however the core challenge on this way is to maintain that status and motivation. The Panchayat Team and community at Bollavaram in Muppala Mandal of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh is all set to focus on post achievement consequences. Be it awareness among people or keeping a check on them, the team is persevering.

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The Unsung Heroes Mufti Nasihur Rahman “The Mufti, however, points out that his efforts are not confined to any specific community but the areas near his school are mostly inhabited by the Muslim community”

r ime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ has found a prized supporter in the principal of a girls’ madrasa in Assam’s Darrang district, whose zeal to convince people about proper sanitation and hygiene earned him the sobriquet ‘Swachhata Maulana’. Mufti Nasihur Rahman,

Principal of Al Jamiatul Islamia Mangaldai Banat Madrasa in Mangaldai, has taken an initiative to convey the importance of sanitation and hygiene in public places to ensure a disease-free society. “For the last three years, I have been regularly visiting the villages around Mangaldai to impart the importance of cleanliness among people but we

still have a long way to go,” he said. Prime Minister Modi may not be very acceptable among the Muslim community but “we appreciate this particular mission of his and thank him for initiating it.” “Islam is not against hygiene and cleanliness and, in fact, Koran points out that cleanliness is ‘iman’ (honour). We had forgotten it and now want to create a movement that can revolutionise the mindset of the community towards health, hygiene and sanitation,” he said. The Mufti, however, points out that his efforts are not confined to any specific community but the areas near his school are mostly inhabited by the Muslim community, along with tea garden labourers in some villages. “Initially, we found that people are not very interested in following

the basic rules of hygiene and sanitation. They are so steeped in poverty that they do not even have proper dwelling places and as such they hardly give attention to toilets and sanitation facilities,” he added. The Mufti pointed out that on several occasions he had tried to help them financially but it is not always possible to do so and as such, “We want to involve more people, particularly the youths, and extend the campaign in all the nearby areas.” A Professor of Information Technology in North East Hill University (NEHU) Dr Md Iftekhar Hussian, who belongs to the Mufti’s village, pointed out ‘Swachhata’ is very much a part of Islam and the Swachh Bharat Mission must be accepted and promoted for the betterment of both society and the nation at large.

Supikpandian, Santhosh, Dhiyanithi, Ragul & Prabaharan

persistent stench was present in the classrooms of Panchayat Union Middle School in Kurumbapatty every day. This was due to the lack of proper facilities in the school, as a result of which the walls were being used as urinals. The school, located in the Thirucharapalli district of TamilNadu, saw many students falling sick and taking leave. Realising that this stench was the primary reason for so many students falling sick, five students from the school decided to take matters into their own hands and turn things around. A non-profit organisation, Design for Change, has devised a simple four-step formula, FeelImagine-Do-Share. This formula inspired these five boys to find a solution to the problem on their own. These 13-year-old boys – Supikpandian, Santhosh, Dhiyanithi, Ragul, and Prabaharan – formed a committee to carry thorough their very own

investigations into the matter. On trying to find the source of the stench, they soon realised that the reason for the same was the school toilets. Since the toilets were illequipped, the boys had to resort to urinating on the compound walls or floor.

As they were urinating on the floors, their sandals and feet were sprinkled with drops of urine. When these students entered the class, the stench was carried along with them. This, along with the poor drainage system of the toilet, resulted in numerous urine

“These 13-year-olds – Supikpandian, Santhosh, Dhiyanithi, Ragul and Prabaharan – formed a committee to carry through their very own investigations into the matter”

infections. As a solution to the problem, these boys came up with the idea of designing urinals from 20-litre water cans, and have also developed a proper grid of pipelines for the disposal of waste. They termed this invention of theirs the ‘Safe Mode Pissing System’ or SMPS. They registered themselves in the Design for Change-organised challenge called ‘DFC I Can School Challenge 2016’ . They were given thirty days to brainstorm and come up with an idea that they could execute. The result was this urinal plan, which received the ‘Boldest Idea Award’. As a part of the award, the students were given medals and Rs 50,000 cash prize. The students observed a striking resemblance between an upside down 20-litre plastic bottle and a urinal. Under the guidance of Kesavan D, they further thought of cutting the bottle longitudinally to build urinals. Their invention costs only Rs 600.

November 27 - december 03, 2017

Champions of Sanitation

Neingupe Marhu

EINGUPE Marhu, a constable in Nagaland police, has improvised his van into a carrier to take care of the increasing garbage and overflowing dumps at a time when the city’s municipal set up collapsed. He travels around the city in his van before and after his working hours to mop the city’s garbage and take it away to the landfills.Neingupe Marhu, 28, is a happily married man with a threeand-a-half year old kid. He lives with his little family in a beautiful village. However, the beauty of the village was getting spoiled when the municipality failed to take away the garbage. Garbage started piling up all around. Neingupe says that the whole town and its surroundings were becaming a mess and he could see waste and trash heaped all over. “So I realised that it’s everyone’s responsibility to keep our city clean. I converted my van into a dumper to elp the people and the town to stay clean. I could see the dustbins overflowing with garbage on my

way to work and while coming back every day. I couldn’t take it anymore. I thought I am a public servant, why can’t I do something instead of complaining about it and waiting for the town council to wake up and take on the task. So every day, for the last one week, I have been picking up garbagebefore my duty starts in the morning and then after work,” says Neingupe.He reports to duty as per his time schedule and collects trash whenever he is free. On an average day, he wakes up at around 5 am and starts

“Nneingupe Marhu, a constable in Nagaland police, has improvised his van into a carrier to take care of the increasing garbage and overflowing dumps”

collecting trash by 5.30. He then takes it to the dumping site a couple of kilometres away from town. In a day he makes up to 10 to 14 trips to the landfill. Except for when he is off duty he does this throughout the day. He also tells people were, in the beginning, unsupportive. At that time, an NGO called Kalos Society came up in his support. Neingupe says, “The group

encouraged me to a level which I cannot forget. The Kalos Society is a very big inspiration for me and helped me undertake my work, which I am continuing till date.” The locals, who were unsupportive once, are now backing him and even taking his inspiring story to the social media. He says many have started contributing so that fuel expenses could be met.

Mirda Devi

“W

here there is a will, there is a way,” goes the popular adage. But like most popular adages, it’s easier said than done. When fate hands us a rough deal, very few have the courage and willpower to overcome the challenge and set an example for the less fortunate ones. Mirda Devi from Garnala Kotda Panchayat in Rishabhdev Block of Udaipur District is one such courageous person. Mirda Devi is a differently-abled widow living with her son and daughter in law. Ever since her husband passed away, her son has had to shift to the neighbouring district of Ahmedabad in Gujarat to find work as a construction labourer. She lives with her daughter in law and survives on the money sent home by her son

“She is also energetically involved in the construction of a new house sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Aawas Yojana (PMGAY)” with some a d d i t i o n a l support in the form of d i s a b i l i t y pension by the State Government. Occasionally she also finds work through the M G N R E G A Scheme. The fact that she suffers from a disability has added to the challenges. Having to defecate in the open was both physically demanding and a socially shameful act for her. Not one to be bogged down, Mirda Devi was inspired by the Swachh Bharat Mission and vowed to construct her own toilet. In doing so, she has not only salvaged her and her daughter in law’s dignity, but also set

an uplifting example for the whole village. With adequate assistance from the block SBM team of Rishabhdev, she has now nearly completed the construction of a toilet. She is also involved in the construction of a new house sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Aawas Yojana (PMGAY). The district administration has motivated her to join a self-help group under the Rajeevika scheme, so that she may find a better means of l ivel i hood for her family.

32 Short Films on Sanitation

POSTAL REGISTRATION NO. DL(W)10/2240/2017-19

November 27 - december 03, 2017

cinema Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

IA L S P EC

Short Films, Big Message Here are the profiles of some of the lesser known but important film makers on Swachhta

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RNI No. DELENG/2016/71561, Joint Commissioner of Police (Licensing) Delhi No. F. 2 (S-45) Press/ 2016 Volume - 1, Issue - 50 Printed by Monika Jain, Published by Monika Jain on behalf of SULABH SANITATION MISSION FOUNDATION and Printed at The Indian Express Ltd., A-8, Sector-7, NOIDA (U.P.) and Published from RZ 83, Mahavir Enclave, Palam-Dabri Road, New Delhi – 110 045. Editor Monika Jain