Campaigns Archives - CLTS Foundation Global

The beginning of an end to open defecation

CLTS Foundation Global — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 06:37:36 +0000

Stellar show: Pulin Nayak, Suresh Bansfore and Vijay Bansfor — core members of the Young Star Club, which staged plays and campaigned door-to-door to make Harijan Pally open defecation-free. Photo: Rina Mukherji

How Harijan Pally in Nadia, West Bengal, became the epicentre of a clean revolution

In April 2015, Nadia was declared the first open defecation-free district in India. Two more districts in West Bengal — Hugli and Burdwan, and Bikaner in Rajasthan quickly followed Nadia’s act. Here is the story of how the beginning was made in the slums of Kalyani Municipality.

Only a decade ago, Harijan Pally was one of the dirtiest parts of Kalyani Municipality in Nadia district, West Bengal. “People who ever came here on work, would hold their noses; it made us feel so ashamed,” recalls Suresh Bansfor, a resident.

Home to largely Dalits from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, besides a few other families from Odisha, the 9.26-acre Harijan Pally was overrun by open defecation. Few houses here had toilets, so the residents — daily wage-earners, as also central and state government Class III and Class IV employees among them — used the grounds around the slum instead.

In 2006, when the local municipal body announced a community-led total sanitation (CLTS) programme to end open-defecation in the area, the Young Star Club was one of the first to respond.

Members of the club were already involved in efforts to improve their surroundings. The municipality’s decision to partner with Kamal Kar’s CLTS Foundation Global gave the club the fillip they were looking for. Supported by the municipality’s health-in-charge Dr Kasturi Bakshi, the club members went door to door, appealing to the residents to build toilets in every home.

They were met with mixed response. A few families had already built toilets but others, like that of daily-wage sweeper Suraj Bansfore, refused to heed. Finally, Suraj learned the hard way — after his five-year-old daughter Kanti was repeatedly down with diarrhoea and gastroenteritis. “I saw Suraj’s wife crying outside their home one morning. Her daughter was unconscious after having loose motions all night. The child needed to be hospitalised, but the mother did not have even ₹10 for the ambulance. We helped her pay,” says Suresh, an active member of the club who is employed as an administrative assistant at Kalyani University.

Suraj initially installed a basic toilet at a cost of ₹300. Now he wants the municipal authorities to build him a proper unit that costs ₹13,000, but is unable to pay the initial contribution of ₹1,000. Once again, the local community has pitched in to help.

The club has come a long way from the stiff resistance it encountered in the early days. Its core committee — comprising Pulin Nayak, Suresh and a few others — used cultural occasions such as Holi and Diwali to stage plays that urged people to build toilets and put an end to open defecation. Their messages linked toilets to health. Flies that sat on faeces in the outdoors could easily contaminate food, and infect people. Children and the elderly were particularly vulnerable; and the money spent on medicine and/or hospitalisation far exceeded the cost of a toilet. Ultimately, “the economics of health was what drove in the point,” Dr Bakshi says.

The slum was made of homes built haphazardly on land belonging to Kalyani University. As a first step, a meeting was arranged and the land was formally handed over to Kalyani Municipality. In consultation with the residents, the municipality and the CLTS Foundation Global re-constructed the houses in neat rows; next they laid out sewer lines and drains. Houses that could not be realigned were demolished and the families shifted to an alternative plot. Every family opted to build a toilet, and most of them chose the basic model. The municipality distributed free plastic pans to set up single-pit toilets.

Of course, merely building toilets was not guaranteed to end open defecation.

Old habits die hard, so there were many who insisted on using the outdoors as they had done for many years.

The club took to shaming them. Little children were given whistles to raise the alarm when they saw someone using the open grounds to answer nature’s call.

Septuagenarian Shambhu Das hurled his lota in frustration at one such group of vigilant children and community members.

Other slums began to take notice of the CLTS model’s success in Harijan Pally, and the efforts of the Young Star Club in using plays and other media to drive home the message of an open defecation-free environment. “They used an actual pan to explain the working of a pit latrine, and how using toilets can curb diarrhoea and other enteric diseases that stunt growth,” says Dr Bakshi.

Currently, a lease deed is being negotiated for Harijan Pally that will ensure the residents never face eviction in the future.

A roof guaranteed over their heads, the residents appear even more willing to invest in a toilet. Until 2006, the family of railway clerk Bulbul Prasad had no qualms defecating outside. After using an asbestos-lined single-pit toilet for a few years, they are now enthusiastically building a vastly improved bath-and-toilet complex in their compound.

Kishore Bansfor’s house, on the other hand, already had a toilet before the family was shifted to another plot during the slum’s realignment. He has now chosen to build a twin-pit toilet along with a massive tank. His cousin Amit Bansfor, too, had to abandon his old home but has now gained a ₹13,000 government toilet after paying just ₹1,000.

Dr Bakshi lays much of the credit for Harijan Pally’s success story at the door of the Young Star Club and its indefatigable young heroes. Refusing to rest on their laurels, the club has busied itself in making the surroundings free of garbage and filth. Its next campaign will get people to stop throwing plastic and other waste in the open.

Such enthusiasm proved contagious. More communities stepped up to the challenge of cleaning the environment. In fact, in Vidyasagar colony — one of the first slums under Kalyani Municipality to become open defecation-free — the residents recently cleared a filthy, clogged drain that had unfailingly overflowed during every monsoon in the past 12 years. Clearly, enlightened communities can readily empower themselves for a better future.

Community in cahoots

Nearly half of India — 595 million people — defecate in the open, according to Unicef. The country accounts for 59 per cent of the world’s population that does not use toilets. Little wonder then that the country loses 1.88 lakh of its under-five children to diarrhoea every year.

CLTS (community-led total sanitation) relies on “the community taking the initiative to improve its sanitation level, rather than a subsidy-driven, top-down approach”, explains Dr Kamal Kar, who came up with the approach in 1999 while leading an evaluation mission for WaterAid in Bangladesh. It is enough to make people see where the problem lies, and what open defecation can cause in terms of sickness and disease, he says. However, he rues that this approach has been largely ignored, even at a time when the current government has “put the greatest emphasis ever on ending open defecation in India”.

The success of the CLTS approach depends on identifying natural leaders in the community; this must be followed up by the use of the right kind of trainers to help the programme progress to the next phase.

Children can prove to be the best agents for change, and are hence an important part of the programme. Once the entire community realises that they are actually “eating each other’s shit” owing to the practice of open defecation, a collective decision immediately follows to end the practice and build toilets. CLTS has wrought wonders in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Bolivia, Yemen, Tanzania, Uganda, Pakistan, Indonesia, besides India.

This was first published on the Hindu Business Line by Rina Mukherji. Rina is a Kolkata-based journalist specialising on environmental issues.

The post The beginning of an end to open defecation appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

Chasing the Dream of an Open Defecation Free South Asia

CLTS Foundation Global — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 07:17:12 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh: ‘Beyond Just Toilets – Fast tracking an Open Defecation Free South Asia’ the International Conclave held at Pan Pacific Sonargaon, Dhaka, Bangladesh on 11 January 2015 planted the seed of a dream of a
n Open Defecation Free (ODF) South Asia. The initiative of chasing the dream of ODF South Asia region was endorsed by more than 100 participants of the global conclave, that included policy and decision makers, practitioners, program managers from at least 30 different organizations across five South Asian countries of India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

The significance of the conclave ‘Beyond Just Toilets’ organised jointly by CLTS Foundation Global and Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), Geneva is immense and enormous. This is particularly important in view of the challenge of eliminating open defection from the South Asian region and achieving an open defecation free South Asia during the SDG period.

Speaking at the conclave, Dr. Kamal Kar, Chairman, CLTS Foundation Global said: “This conclave is very important in disseminating the learning from the great success of Bangladesh in achieving nearly open defecation free status over the last decade through local community empowerment triggered by the use of community led total sanitation approach.”

Dr. Kamal Kar, Chairman, CLTS Foundation Global

Dr. Kar said, “I distinctly remember the day when I was introducing Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) through my keynote speech at the inaugural technical session of the first SACOSAN held here in Dhaka in 2003. CLTS was only two years old at the time when access to basic sanitation in Bangladesh was around 35%. Open defecation was rampant in rural Bangladesh.”

“Bangladesh was one of the countries that had highest rate of infant mortality in the world. Radical transformation has taken place since then and those statistics are history now. Bangladesh is one of the countries in the region and in the world that has created a glittering example in drastically reducing child mortality and human drudgery in such a short time. This could be emulated by many developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to make our planet free from open defecation and saving lives of millions of children from premature death,” explained Dr. Kar.

Since the emergence of CLTS at Bangladesh in 2000 it has spread to more than 67 countries across three continents of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Roughly over 40 million people across the globe are living in open defecation free environment. However, nearly 2 billion people still lack access to basic sanitation and millions dying from waterborne diseases mainly caused by faecal oral contamination and poor sanitation. “We have to go a long way. In South Asia alone, 38% of the population still practice open defecation. Bangladesh is surrounded by India, a nation which has the world’s largest number of open defecators,” said the chairman of CLTS Foundation Global. Minus India, the ODF population of South Asia reduces drastically to 8% (JMP Report 2015).

The conclave recognised the vast and complex problem of open defecation of India that constitutes the largest proportion of open defecation in the region. The speakers and participants appreciated and highly praised the recent initiative of Indian Prime Minister in prioritizing sanitation and initiating and launching a massive program – Swachh Bharat Mission. According to Sujoy Majumdar, UNICEF India, a concerted effort is being made to intensely involve and engage local government, NGOs and civil society organisations in the SBM to create more public awareness, which is also the cornerstone of the success in Bangladesh.

While recognizing household subsidy as the most persistent bottleneck of eliminating OD in India, some speakers flagged the recent initiative of the state of Chhattisgarh that initiated CLTS without any hardware subsidy in some areas and achieved inspiring success.

While appreciating the achievement of Bangladesh in eliminating open defecation, all participants recognized that it has been possible mainly because of their focus on collective behavior change rather than on construction of toilets. Anowarul Haq, Director, Extreme Rural Poverty Program, Care, Bangladesh emphasized the great potential of CLTS in attaining wider development benefits like livelihoods, food security, eliminating hunger, primary education, inequality, health etc referring to the achievements made by CARE’s programme in Bangladesh. Echoing his views, Tom Palakudiyil, Interim Director of International Programmes, WaterAid stated that sanitation was a means to achieving the end of poverty. Palakudiayil further stated that for us to succeed as a global community it is important for diverse sectors and stakeholders to work together in an integrated and collaborative manner.

The same had been the experience from Nepal and Afghanistan as presented by Sudha Shrestha Acting Chief Technical Advisor / GSF Programme Manager, UN-HABITAT, Nepal and Mohammad Afzal Safi, WASH Programme Advisor, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, Government of Afghanistan.Nepal and Pakistan shifted their national sanitation policy from prescriptive and subsided toilet construction to no subsidy CLTS.While speaking to the gathering, Ms. Shrestha said that after the recent earthquake in Nepal, the affected communities started building up their toilets first and then their houses. An impact of positive behavior change was also seen when there were very few diarrehea cases reported after the earthquake.

One of the highlights of the evening was the inspiring talk by four Natural Leaders (spontaneous leaders emerging from the process of CLTS) including a Chairman of Union Parishad( Local Government institution at the community level) on their experience of implementation and scaling up CLTS in their respective areas and beyond.

The session on “Role of media in triggering debates and influencing policies’ stressed the lack of priority given to issues of sanitation and public health in journalism at present across South Asia and India in particular. The speakers also underlined the importance of media in creating public awareness on such issues so as to create pressure on policy makers by showcasing the brilliant success across Bangladesh and also in some pockets of India. At all levels, decentralization of policy making and decision making was emphasized by the journalists. Zafar Siobhan, Editor of Dhaka Tribune moderated the session.

Lakkhichhara, a popular Bengali rock music band from Kolkata put to music a catchy song capturing the positive impact of CLTS in Bangladesh, ending with a call to spread this experience elsewhere in the region.

This was first published here.

The post Chasing the Dream of an Open Defecation Free South Asia appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

Bangladesh now open defecation free country

CLTS Foundation Global — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 07:07:26 +0000

Staff Correspondent

Attaining the status of a role model for its neighbours, Bangladesh has become an open defecation free country from 34 percent to 99 percent sanitation coverage in the last decade, said representatives of South Asian countries at a discussion yesterday.

The discussion titled “Beyond Just Toilets – Fast Tracking an Open Defecation Free South Asia”, organised by Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) Foundation India and Geneva based Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, was held at Hotel Sonargaon on the occasion of “The 6th South Asian Conference on Sanitation” (SACOSAN-VI) that starts today at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC).

With the slogan “Better Sanitation, Better life”, more than 500 delegates and participants from different corners of South Asia will participate in the conference, organised by the Local Government Division (LGD) of Bangladesh.

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The article was first published on The Daily Star.

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বাংলাদেশের এক নির্মল মর্যাদা অর্জনের গল্প

CLTS Foundation Global — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 06:39:39 +0000

সবচেয়ে বড় আবিষ্কার মানুষের ভেতরের মানুষ আবিষ্কার। কিন্তু এ কেমন আত্ম-আবিষ্কার যে কেউ বলছে, ‘একে অন্যের গু খেয়ে আর এক দিনও থাকা যায় না!’

শুনে ধন্দ লাগে। কথাটা কে বলছেন? এক দরিদ্র গ্রামবাসী—পাটখেত বা সুপারি বনে যাঁদের দারা-পুত্র-কন্যাদের টাট্টি সারতে হয়। রিয়েলিটি শোর কায়দায় জনসমক্ষে টাট্টিকরায় জামাই রাজি না থাকায় এক মেয়ের তো বিয়েই ভেস্তে গেল। বেচারার হবু শ্বশুরবাড়িতে টাট্টিখানা নেই। মান্ধাতানামে যদি কেউ থেকে থাকেন, তঁার আমল থেকে এ-ই চলছিল। লজ্জা ছিল না, রোগবালাইয়ের চিন্তা ছিল না, অসম্মানের হেতুও ছিল না। যা হয়ে আসছে, তা-ই তারা করে যাচ্ছিল। আর ডায়রিয়া হয়ে ছিল জাতীয় রোগ।

একদিন তাঁদের বলা হলো, আপনারা বাল-বাচ্চা-বৃদ্ধ-বনিতা যেসব স্থানে ইয়ে করেন, সেসব জায়গায় ছাই দিয়ে রাখুন তো! রাখা
হলে তাদের আক্কেলখানা গুড়ুম করে চুপসে গেল। দেখা গেল, গ্রামটাই ছাইময় তথা মলময় হয়ে আছে। তার মধ্যেই ঘর-সংসার, বাচ্চাদের বেড়ে ওঠা। সেই জিনিস হাতে-পায়ে লাগছে, খাওয়া-গোসলের যে পুকুর, তাতে ভাসছে। তার স্পর্শে বারবার অজু ভেঙে যাচ্ছে নামাজিদের।

১৯৯৯ সাল। রাজশাহীর বাগমারা থানার মসমইল গ্রামের মনসুরের সহ্য হলো না। চোখ খুলে দেওয়া মানুষটি কথা দিলেন, ‘দুই মাসের মধ্যে এসব বন্ধ করব।’ ৫৫ দিনের মাথায় খবর এল, গ্রামটি এখন সম্পূর্ণ নির্মল। এভাবে একের পর এক গ্রাম। তখন বাংলাদেশ বিশ্বের দরিদ্রতম দেশের সারিতে। সেই থেকে মাত্র ১৬ বছর! সারা বাংলাদেশের গ্রামীণ মাঠঘাট ৯৯ শতাংশ নির্মল হয়ে গেছে। এদিকে আয়ের দিক থেকে বাংলাদেশ নিম্ন–মধ্যমে উঠেছে, সহস্রাব্দ উন্নয়ন লক্ষ্যমাত্রা পূর্ণ করেছে। এতে মনসুরের মতো মানুষের উঠে দাঁড়ানোর অবদানও কম না। যা তাদের চালিত করেছিল, তা শুধু স্বাস্থ্যের চিন্তা না, মর্যাদাবোধও। মর্যাদাবান মানুষ অধিকারের জায়গায় আপস করে না।

A triggering session

উন্নতির সোপানে ওঠার নামে আমরা তৈলাক্ত লাঠি বাওয়ার কসরত করছি, আবার অতি উৎসাহে সেটা ভাঙতেও কসুর করছি না। ক্ষমতা ও অন্যায়ের বিষ্ঠায় মাখামাখি হচ্ছি প্রতিদিনই। কবে আমরা মসমইলের মনসুরের মতো করে বলে উঠতে পারব, ‘একে অন্যের গু খেয়ে আর এক দিনও থাকা যায় না!’

না, এই নির্মল বাসভূমি প্রচলিত সরকারি (জিও) বা বেসরকারি (এনজিও) পথে হয়নি পুরোটা। এটা হয়েছে সমাজের সম্মিলিত শক্তিতে। ছোট্ট একটা জাদুর কাঠির ঘষায় পরিবর্তনের জং ধরা চেরাগ জ্বলে উঠেছিল। যিনি এই আশ্চর্যের জাদুকর, তাঁর নাম কমল কর। ভারতভিত্তিক সম্প্রদায়চালিত সম্পূর্ণ শৌচব্যবস্থা ফাউন্ডেশনের (সিএলটিএস) প্রতিষ্ঠাতা। তিনি শেখাতে যাননি, শিখতে গিয়েছিলেন। মরমি কবি রশিদ উদ্দিনের গানের ‘মানুষের ভেতরে মানুষ করিতেছে বিরাজন’ই যেন তাঁর আচরিত তত্ত্ব। তাঁর আবিষ্কারটা খুবই সরল: করুণা নয়, মর্যাদা; সাহায্য নয়, ক্ষমতায়ন।

তিনি দেখলেন, সরকার থেকে শুরু করে এনজিওগুলোর বিস্তর ব্যয়ে দেওয়া পাকা ল্যাট্রিন কাজে লাগছে না। মলকূপের
ঢালাই রিংগুলো গরুকে খইল খাওয়ানোর পাত্র হিসেবে ব্যবহৃত হচ্ছে। কোথাকার কোন ঠনঠনের এক রাজাকে তাঁর বন্ধু এক জোড়া জরি লাগানো দামি নাগরাই জুতা উপহার দিয়েছিলেন। রাজামশাইয়ের অভ্যাসও নেই, জানাও নেই এর ব্যবহার। তো একদিন তিনি নাগরাই জোড়ার একপাটি মাথার পাগড়ির সঙ্গে লাগিয়ে দরবারে দেখা দিলেন। লোকে যা বোঝার বুঝল। বিদেশে বসে তৃতীয় দুনিয়ায় দেওয়া অনেক উন্নয়ন-দাওয়াইয়ের হালও এমনই হয়েছে।

কমল কর সে সময় এসেছিলেন একটি এনজিওর হয়ে স্যানিটেশন কর্মসূচির মূল্যায়ন করতে। দেখলেন, শুনলেন এবং অন্যরা যা বুঝছিল না, সেটা ধরতে পারলেন। বুঝলেন, দান–খয়রাত করে মানুষের অভ্যাস বদলানো যাবে না। তাদের বর্তমান জীবন নিয়ে বিশ্লেষণের জরুরত বোঝাতে হবে।

ওপর থেকে উন্নয়নের জায়গায় তিনি জোর দিলেন তলার মানুষের জাগরণের ওপর। অর্থাৎ, উন্নয়ন যাদের দরকার, তাদের হাতেই এর দায়ভার দিতে হবে। তাঁর ক্ষমতায়ন তত্ত্ব রাষ্ট্র বা সাহায্য সংস্থার অভিভাবকত্ব মানে না, তা সম্প্রদায়ভিত্তিক। এই চিন্তার জোরেই প্রখ্যাত মার্কিন সাময়িকী ফরেন পলিসি ২০১০ সালে তাঁকে বিশ্বের সেরা ১০০ চিন্তকের মধ্যে ৮৪তম স্থান দিয়েছিল। এশিয়া ও আফ্রিকার সাতটি দেশ এ পদ্ধতি গ্রহণ করে, অনেক এনজিওর কর্মধারা বদলে যায়।

আমাদের জন্য বুনিয়াদি প্রশ্নটা এখানেই, মানুষ কখন বদলায়? যখন সে নিজেকে জানতে পারে, নিজের বা অপরের আয়নায় সত্যটা দেখতে পারে। তিনি ও তাঁর দল প্রথমে রাজশাহীর ওই মসমইল গ্রামের মানুষদের তাঁদের প্রাকৃতিক কর্মের দগদগে চিত্রটা দেখালেন। জাগিয়ে তুললেন পরস্পরের প্রতি সহানুভূতি। মায়েদেরও হুঁশ জাগলো যে সন্তানদের কীসের মধ্যে ছেড়ে রাখছি?

মনসুর কথা দিয়েছিলেন, দুই মাসের মধ্যে গ্রামটিকে নির্মল করে তুলবেন, ৫৫ দিনের মাথায় তিনি সাফল্যের সংবাদ পাঠালেন। ওই গ্রামটি বিশ্বের নজর কাড়ল। বাংলাদেশে জন্মাল আরেকটি সামাজিক উন্নয়নের মডেল। যে ভারতের মানুষ কমল কর, সেই ভারত কিন্তু এখনো বিশ্বের মধ্যে মুক্ত মলত্যাগের শীর্ষ দেশ। অথচ হাজার কোটি রুপি খরচ হয়ে গেলেও মানুষ জাগেনি। কারণ, সে দেশের সরকার বাংলাদেশের মডেলটা আমলে নেয়নি।

Working with women natural leaders

সম্পূর্ণ নির্মল বাংলাদেশ হওয়ার প্রাক্কালে এবার ঢাকায় এক সম্মেলনে এসেছিলেন কমল। সেই সূত্রে প্রথম আলোয় আসা। কমল করের ভাষায়, ‘ক্ষমতায়ন হলে কেউ মানুষকে আটকাতে পরে না।’ আর কেমন সেই ক্ষমতায়ন? ‘তুমি, আমি একসঙ্গে’। আমাদের গ্রামদেশে এই ধারণা এজমালি বলে পরিচিত। বলছিলেন তিনি, ‘প্রতিটি দেশের গ্রামে গ্রামে এই সহযোগিতার সংস্কৃতি আছে। ডেভেলপমেন্ট এসে এই যৌথ সম্প্রদায়ভিত্তিক উদ্যোগের ধারণাটা ভুলিয়ে দিয়েছে।’

অনেক ক্ষেত্রেই দেখা যায়, শহুরে প্রশিক্ষিত এনজিও–কর্মীরা গ্রামের বঞ্চিত মানুষের মধ্যে হীনম্মন্যতা ও অপরাধবোধ জাগিয়ে তোলেন। যেন তার দুর্দশার জন্য সে-ই দায়ী। অথচ হাজার বছর ধরে এ ধরনের সহযোগিতার সংস্কৃতিই কৃষক সমাজের প্রধান সামাজিক পুঁজি। ধান কাটায়, বন্যা ঠেকানোয়, এমনকি বিদ্রোহ-সংগ্রামে এটাই তাদের প্রধান শক্তি। ব্রিটিশ নদীবিশেষজ্ঞ স্যার উইলিয়ম উইলকক্স কলকাতায় দেওয়া এক বক্তৃতায় (১৯৩০) বলেছিলেন, বাংলার মানুষের মধ্যে যে সহযোগিতার সংস্কৃতি দেখা যায়, তার উৎস লোকায়ত বন্যানিয়ন্ত্রণ-ব্যবস্থা। এই শক্তি অসাধ্য সাধন করতে পারে।

মোটেই অবাক করার বিষয় নয়, কমল করের ধারণা যেন সেই পুরোনো সমবায়ী সমাজের আদর্শকেই প্রতিফলিত করে। এরই অবাক করা ফল ফলেছে আমাদের হাওরাঞ্চলে। সেটা যেন প্রকৃতির গামলা। সেই গামলায় শুষ্ক মৌসুমে অগাধ ধানের সমারোহ, আর বর্ষায় তা সাগরসমান জলরাশি। হঠাৎ বন্যায় কোটি কোটি টাকার ধান ভেসে যাওয়া ছিল সেখানকার অভিশাপ। ধান কাটার সময়টা পাহাড়ি ঢল আসারও সময়। সে সময় দু-এক দিনের মধ্যেই ধানের প্রান্তর হাওর বনে যেত। কিশোরগঞ্জের কেওড়াজুড়ি ইউনিয়নের মানুষ এই অভিশাপ দূর করেছিল এজমালি উদ্যোগে। ২০০৬ সালে, মাত্র পাঁচ দিনে ছয় হাজার মানুষ মিলে। এভাবে প্রায় সাড়ে সাত কিলোমিটার এলাকায় বাঁধ দেওয়া এক দারুণ মানবিক কর্মমেলা। পুরুষেরা বাঁধ ওঠাচ্ছে মাটি কেটে, তাদের পেছনে মেয়েরা উৎসবের আমেজে রান্না চড়িয়েছে, বাচ্চারা পেয়েছে হুল্লোড়ের আনন্দ।

এভাবে হাওরের পানিপ্রবাহ ঠিক রাখা ও ফসল বাঁচানোর পদ্ধতি বাংলার সনাতন উপচানো সেচব্যবস্থার সঙ্গে সংগতিপূর্ণ। পরের বছরও এভাবে বাঁধ বাঁধা হয়। আশপাশের গ্রামের মানুষও যোগ দেয়। গাইবান্ধার বন্যা উপদ্রুত হোসেনপুর ও কিশোরগাড়ির গল্পটাও এমন। সেখানে গ্রামবাসী শুধু বাঁধ সংস্কারই করেনি, সরকারের পানি উন্নয়ন বোর্ডকে বাধ্য করেছিল দুই কিলোমিটারের বেশি এলাকার অসম্পূর্ণ বাঁধ পূর্ণ করতে। এতে করে ফসল বেঁচেছে প্রায় ১১ কোটি টাকার।

আত্মবিশ্বাস ও আত্মমর্যাদা সংক্রামক ব্যাপার। এই গ্রামগুলো শিক্ষা ও স্যানিটেশনেও দৃষ্টান্ত স্থাপন করেছিল। এই এজমালি চর্চার জেরে উত্তরবঙ্গের বেশ কটি জেলায় নারী শ্রমিকেরা পুরুষ শ্রমিক ও জমির মালিকদের সঙ্গে বসে সমান মজুরি আদায় করে নিচ্ছেন। এটা শুধু জীবনের উত্তরণই নয়, সমাজের তলার মানুষের উঠে আসার গল্পও। এই সামাজিক নায়ক-নায়িকারা পরে নেতা হয়েছেন, কেউ কৃষিতে নতুন উদ্যোগ দিয়েছেন। যেখানেই এই জনশক্তির বিনিয়োগ হবে, সেখানেই দিন বদলে যাবে। ক্ষমতায়ন তাই শুধু স্লোগান নয়, তা এক রাজনৈতিক উত্থানের জ্বালামুখ। যখন কেবলই গ্রাম পতনের শব্দ শুনি, জাতীয় অবক্ষয়ের নৈরাশ্য দেখি; তখন দেশের তলানিতে সঞ্চিত এই শক্তির সহায় নিতে পারা যায় কিন্তু।

এবার নিজেদের দিকে তাকাই। উন্নতির সোপানে ওঠার নামে আমরা তৈলাক্ত লাঠি বাওয়ার কসরত করছি, আবার অতি উৎসাহে সেটা ভাঙতেও কসুর করছি না। অনৈক্য, হানাহানি, স্বার্থপরতা, লোভ ও হিংসার বিষ্ঠা প্রতিদিন ছড়াচ্ছি আমরাই। ক্ষমতা ও অন্যায়ের বিষ্ঠায় মাখামাখি হচ্ছি প্রতিদিনই। দেশটা আর বাসযোগ্য থাকছে না। কবে আমরা মসমইলের ওই মনসুরের মতো করে বলে উঠতে পারব, ‘একে অন্যের গু খেয়েআর এক দিনও থাকা যায় না!’ এমন অমর্যাদায় কে বাঁচতে চায়?

ফারুক ওয়াসিফ: সাংবাদিক ও লেখক।

Email: bagharu@gmail.com

The was first published on Prothom Alo as part of CLTS Foundation Global and WSSCC’s media advocacy on stories of success of CLTS in South Asia.

The post বাংলাদেশের এক নির্মল মর্যাদা অর্জনের গল্প appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

শিশুমৃত্যু মোকাবিলায় দিশা দেখাচ্ছে কল্যাণীর বিদ্যাসাগর কলোনি

CLTS Foundation Global — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 07:32:30 +0000

ভারতে ডায়েরিয়ায় পাঁচ বছরের কম বয়সী শিশুর মৃত্যুর হার সারা বিশ্বের মধ্যে সবথেকে বেশি। ইউনিসেফের তথ্য বলছে, এ দেশে প্রতি বছর ১ লক্ষ ৮৮ হাজার শিশুর মৃত্যু হয় ডায়েরিয়ায়। দেশের ৪৩ শতাংশ শিশুই কমবেশি অপুষ্টিতে ভোগে। এর প্রধান কারণ অবশ্যই খোলা জায়গায় শৌচকর্ম । পশ্চিমবঙ্গের রাজধানী কলকাতাতেও যেখানে এই দৃশ্য বিরল নয়, সেখানে নদীয়ার কল্যাণীর বিদ্যাসাগর কলোনি কামাল করে দেখিয়েছে। এখানকার বস্তি এলাকার বেশিরভাগ বাসিন্দাই বাংলাদেশি উদ্বাস্তু। বাড়ি টিনের চালের। কিন্তু শৌচাগার ঝাঁ চকচকে। একই ছবি পাশের কলোনি হরিজন পল্লিরও। কিন্তু বরাবর এমনটা ছিল না কলোনিগুলির চেহারা। একটি মৃত্যু আর স্থানীয় মানুষের সচেতনতা পুরো ছবিটাই বদলে দিয়েছে।

কল্যাণীর ৪ নং ওয়ার্ডের হরিজন পল্লির বাসিন্দা সূর্য বাঁশফোর। তাঁর ছয় বছরের ফুটফুটে মেয়ে যেদিন ডায়েরিয়ায় মারা গেল। সন্তান হারিয়ে দিশেহারা বাবার মাথায় আকাশ ভেঙে পড়েছিল। আর অশনি সঙ্কেত দেখেছিলেন হরিজন পল্লির বাকি বাসিন্দারা।বস্তির কয়েকজন সচেতন ব্যক্তি বুঝেছিলেন, খোলা জায়গায় শৌচকর্ম এবং তার থেকে ছড়িয়ে পড়া মারণ জীবাণুই প্রাণ কেড়েছে শিশুটির। এভাবে চলতে থাকলে আরও অনেক মায়ের কোলই শূন্য হবে। কিন্তু বস্তির অর্ধশিক্ষিত নিরক্ষর মানুষগুলিকে কীকরে সচেতন করবেন, তা বুঝতে পারছিলেন না তাঁরা। শেষে নাটকের মাধ্যমে সচেতনতা প্রসারের উদ্যোগ নিলেন এলাকার মহিলারাই। রীতিমতো মঞ্চ বেঁধে সূ‌র্য বাঁশফোর পরিবারের ঘটনাকে তুলে ধরা হল। তার ফলও মিলল হাতেনাতে। ৩০০ টাকা খরচ করে বাড়িতে প্রথম টয়লেট বানালেন সূ‌র্যই। দেখাদেখি বস্তির অন্যান্য পরিবারও এগিয়ে এল। ধীরে ধীরে খোলা জায়গায় শৌচকর্ম ইতিহাস হয়ে গেল হরিজন পল্লিতে। তবে কাজল, সীমা বাঁশফোররা সেখানেই থেমে থাকেননি। ওয়ার্ডের অন্যান্য বস্তিতেও সচেতনতা প্রসার করেছেন তাঁরা।

২০০৬ সালে কল্যাণী পুরসভার তৎকালীন চেয়ারম্যান ড. শান্তনু ঝাঁ-এর আমন্ত্রণে কল্যাণীর বস্তি এলাকায় পা রেখেই সমস্যার গভীরতা আঁচ করেছিলেন সিএলটিএস ফাউন্ডেশনের সদস্যরা।পুরসভার সঙ্গে যৌথ উদ্যোগে শুরু হয় সচেতনতা প্রসার।১৫০ টাকার টয়লেট প্যান দেওয়া হয়েছিল প্রত্যেক পরিবারকে। কয়েক বছরে কল্যাণী হয়ে ওঠে ওডিএফ বা ওপেন ডেফিকেশন ফ্রি এলাকা। ২০০৯ সালে রাষ্ট্রপতির কাছ থেকে স্বীকৃতিস্বরূপ পুরস্কারও পায়।

কল্যাণী পুরসভার এক নং ওয়ার্ডের বিদ্যাসাগর কলোনি পুর এলাকার প্রথম বস্তি যেটি পুরোপুরি ওপেন ডেফিকেশন ফ্রি বা ওডিএফ হয়েছিল। এলাকার বেশিরভাগ বাসিন্দাই বাংলাদেশি উদ্বাস্তু। তাঁদের বাড়ি কাঁচা হলেও বাথরুম পাকা সকলেরই। এদের কেউ কৃষক, কেউ মুড়ি বিক্রি করে সংসার চালান। তবু এটুকু বুঝেছেন যে পরিষ্কার পরিচ্ছন্নতার কোনও বিকল্প নেই। এরজন্য সরকারি ভর্তুকিরও অপেক্ষা করেননি জগদীশ বিশ্বাস, অমর হালদাররা। আত্মীয়দের থেকে টাকা ধার করেই বাড়িতে শৌচালয় বানিয়ে ফেলেছেন।

ভারতের প্রতিবেশী রাষ্ট্র বাংলাদেশ এখন ৯৯% ওডিএফ। নেপালও তাই। অথচ ভারতে যেখানে শৌচালয় বানাতে কয়েকশো কোটি টাকা ভর্তুকি দেয় সরকার, সেখানে আজও অবাধে চলছে খোলা জায়গায় শৌচকর্ম। তাই এই ধরনের প্রকল্পের যৌক্তিকতা নিয়েই প্রশ্ন উঠছে। শুধু ভর্তুকি দিয়ে শৌচালয় বানিয়ে দিলেই দায়িত্ব ফুরিয়ে যায় না। মানুষের আচরণে পরিবর্তন আনা অত্যন্ত জরুরি। না হলে সমস্যার শিকড়ে পৌঁছানো কোনওদিনই সম্ভব নয় “, বলছিলেন সিএলটিএসের এক সদস্য সায়ন্তন রায়চৌধুরী।

This article was first published at Your Story. It was part of a media advocacy partnership between WSSCC, Geneva and CLTS Foundation Global.

The post শিশুমৃত্যু মোকাবিলায় দিশা দেখাচ্ছে কল্যাণীর বিদ্যাসাগর কলোনি appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

Swacch Bharat: Cleanliness and the muck in our minds

CLTS Foundation Global — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 07:30:34 +0000

Those of us who do not live in Delhi and live far away from the inner-chambers of power, some aspects of the new Union government’s initial pronouncements were indeed exciting.

Firstly, in consonance with the tone set by its leader in the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, the central government wanted to be an enabler and not a micro-manager in people’s lives and aspirations. Secondly, it talked about co-operative federalism, by which, real federalism would be ushered in, in a spirit of co-operation between the constituent states of the Indian Union. Right now, these feel like promises from a different planet.

It is true that the government of India increased the percentage of tax money that would be given by the Centre to the states. But that came with a serious catch, the Union government at Delhi was simultaneously either severely cutting back or completely discontinuing their funding of many schemes run in the states where the money used to come primarily from the Centre. Hence, if the schemes were to be continued, the increased allocation for tax money to states would simply be used to continue earlier existing schemes.

Many states have protested this because this is no real financial devolution at all. What is important here is how the Union government, that is the so-called Centre, constantly talks about federalism and decentralisation, and in practise has been continuing the centralising policies of the previous government. If the Union government was actually interested in federalism by empowering the states, why has it not given up the revenue collection rights from even a single revenue source in favour of the states? What is the point or meaning of decentralisation when the revenue is collected as before by the Union government only and the states are completely dependent on Delhi’s whims.

After all, if states became revenue owners and collectors, they could plan projects and outlays completely, without the Union government as a meaning-less middle-man, which apparently collects the money with the intent of giving most of it up to the states. Then why collect it in the first place and why not let the states collect the revenues and also retain the money? We need to understand why Delhi retains these rights and does not give up any revenue collection rights to the states. Without that, it would not be able to allocate more money to a bullet-train project compared to the whole of a typical annual Indian Railways budget. If the amount of revenue available to Delhi decreased drastically, it would be able to announce financial “packages” for those states from whom the government party tries to gain power.

This is precisely why there would be fat financial “packages” announced for Jammu and Kashmir or Bihar but never for West Bengal or Telengana or any other state where the party in power in Lok Sabha has no chance of gaining in the near future. With all its high talk of decentralisation and cooperative federalism, can New Delhi care or dare to give any revenue source back to state, not as alms from babus of finance commission but as an inalienable constitutional right? No, sir. Those constitutional changes are only meant for taking away taxation powers from the state. The feverish enthusiasm to pass the GST is a case in point. The GST takes away several taxation powers from the states. And yes, the Congress will also support it. It is a matter of time. When it comes to imposing the ideology and power of Delhi over the states, the Congress and the BJP are two sides of the same coin.

But wait, it is not as if the Union government is content with having less money and less financial obligations. After having gotten out of major funding of various schemes, its has been slapping certain kinds of taxes called “cess”, which are cunningly outside the purview of its sharing-with-states “generosity”. What it means is that the Union government is actually extracting more money from the people, with the new extractions being called “cess”, that is, of the type that won’t be shared with the states. A cess is essentially a tax whose collections are ear-marked for a particular purpose. Among this extra money that the so-called Centre is extracting from us, the people, is the ‘Swachh Bharat’ cess. The money collected from this cess will apparently go in “cleaning up” this land.

Given the vagueness of what “cleaning up” entails, this money can be used to pursue any number of pet projects conjured up by Delhi. One thing is for sure – such projects would often involve contractors and thekedars. This is all rather predictable and sad. The party that had come to power by promising decentralisation and being an enabler of people has now officially decided that cleaning your neighbourhood drain is its job, whether you like it or not, and you have to pay for it. The thing is, the real cleanliness issues lie elsewhere and inside the Indian Union itself, there are success stories of communities taking charge of their destiny in cleanliness and hygiene, even before the present bunch of decentralisers in Delhi decided to centralise even the job of cleaning your neighbourhood, or at least collect immense amounts of money under that ruse.

It is the height of centralisation where New Delhi grabs extra money from your pocket, ostensibly to clean your locality, but who will clean the muck in New Delhi’s mind that treats the states as irritants at best and revenue plunder zones at worst? While photo-ops of broom-stick wielding khadi-wearers have been a hit, open defecation is something for which photo-ops are a rarity. And while a lot of money is to be made and is being made by building made-to-order government latrines by contractors big and small, communities in many parts of the Indian Union are leading by a very different set of examples. In the canal irrigated zones of the Thar in Rajasthan, IAS officer Arti Dogra, as District Magistrate of Bikaner, took the challenge of open defecation in these zones very seriously. Incidentally, the Indian Union is the top defecator in the world, with nearly half of its population defecating in the open, as per the 2014 Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation report. Ms Dogra empowered local communities through community-led total sanitation approach, a people-centric awareness triggering method that has had astounding success in the much more swachh and nearly open-defecation free People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

Local elected representatives were taken into confidence, public meetings were held where women’s concerns were specifically highlighted. The results have been impressive which huge swathes in nearly desolate desert land having humble hutments with newly erected toilets – not sarkari public toilets but private ones built largely with people’s own funds. More than money, it is earnestness, community-centric empowerment and decentralisation of decision-making that matters, when it comes to solving most problems. If the government of India is at all seriously interested in what it calls the Swachh Bharat campaign, these are the examples it needs to look at seriously. It also might want to learn from Bangladesh – there is no shame in learning from areas where best practises have achieved success, especially in cash-poor zones such as the subcontinent.

In Haryana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat, the presence of a latrine at home has been made a mandatory condition for qualifying as a candidate for local-body or panchayat elections. Such rules, made from above, only reflect non-engagement with reality and a deep contempt for communities. Such rules are biased against those who are usually excluded from their rightful share of money and power – the poor and the so-called backward castes. Communities do not need apathetic and criminal rulers from above. What lies behind such election qualifications is a mentality of prejudice and bias which in turn requires cleaning. Empowered communities can take care of themselves.

By Garga Chatterjee. Garga is a journalist and a PHD from Harvard University.

The article was first published at DNA India as part of a media advocacy partnership between WSSCC and CLTS Foundation Global.

The post Swacch Bharat: Cleanliness and the muck in our minds appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

What it takes for a change?

CLTS Foundation Global — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 10:53:20 +0000

Exemplary public participation sets Ilam as an example in sanitation

Nirjana Sharma/Republica Social and environmental activists associated with the Green City Women’s Group, Ilam tend to plants in the organization’s nursery maintained at Ilam Bazar in this recent picture. The Group supplies tree and flower saplings from this nursery for plantation across the town.

ILAM, Jan 9: When Devi Bhattarai, 37, takes a round of Ilam Bazar on her two-wheeler, the shopkeepers go on high alert. Some of them even get red with fear of being questioned by her, if she spots any dirt in their shops premises. Devi’s observation is not limited to the premises of the shop. She forces her way into the interior of the shop and even at times inspects status of the toilets. If she finds that the toilets are unclean or if water is not available inside, there is no way for the shopkeeper to getaway without facing her brunt.

“Devi helps us take responsibility of keeping the town clean and tidy. She has made us realize that we can keep the town only if we give importance to the minor things that go unnoticed most of the time,” says Kamana Bajracharya, 41, who runs a cosmetic shop in Tudikhel of Ilam Bazar.

Devi is one of a group member of Green City Women’s Group formed with an aim to develop the Ilam as the cleanest and the most environment-friendly district across the country. Devi is one of the many activists active in the district who have contributed in making Ilam a successful town in terms of total sanitation- including the availability of drinking water, toilet facilities and waste management among others. Along with that a weekly routine mandates compulsory involvement of locals, security personals, business owners, among others, in taking up their brooms and cleaning up the streets and tea gardens.

The locals have taken up the responsibility to maintain the sanitation status since the district was declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) in February last year, says the district-based senior journalist and social activist Dharma Gautam.

Gautam recalls the measures the government adopted to make people build the toilet. For the poor villagers, subsidies were given to build the toilet. But those who did not have one despite of their economic viability were barred from the government’s service such as citizenship card, birth certificate and passport. This steps sensitized people on sanitation issues, informs Gautam.

The district which had 64 percent of the toilet coverage as recorded in the National Census in 2011, hit the 100 percent target by the end of 2014 through massive participation of locals in the sanitation campaign.

Environment officer at the Ilam Municipality Office, Kamal Mainali says that the local’s activeness in the development has helped to cope with challenges that the office would have to struggle to manage like any other hilly districts of Nepal. Drinking water availability is one of the examples.

“When the drinking water crisis mounted in the town, locals not only pressurized the government to bring new drinking water projects but also actively participated in preserving tap water and conserving water resources which had already dried up,” said Mainali.

Scores of examples across the town, where locals contribute both money and labor to revive the dried up water resources, corroborate his claims. Four of the public taps in the town have already been restored through public efforts whereas restoration of another two is in the pipeline.

“Water taps are our property that serve hundreds of people in a week,” says Nanuka Khatri, 36, of Kuldhara, who works voluntarily to improve water and sanitation in the municipality, while expressing her commitment towards preserving public properties in the locality.

After achieving its sanitation goals, presently Ilam is moving towards establishing itself as a Green City. “Once the municipality starts dumping the waste segregating the biodegradable from the non-biodegradable, we only have the responsibility to maintain the achievements,” says Bhupal Raj Khatiwada, social mobilizer at the Namsaling Community Development Center, while expressing satisfaction over the public participation in the development of the town.

Ilam is ahead of the rest of the districts in terms of sanitation and environment friendliness. It is already polythene-bag free while only 31 out of the total 75 districts have gained the status of open defecation free districts. Other districts are struggling to complete their sanitation goals within timeframe set by the government.

At a time when the government missed national target of achieving 80 percent sanitation coverage by 2015, achieving 100 percent sanitation among all households would be a far-fetched dream if the locals had hesitated from actively participating in the sanitation plan, says Bal Krishna Pokhrel, a water, sanitation and hygiene expert at the Federation of Drinking Water and Sanitation Users Nepal (FEDWASUN).

“The national progress rate is fluctuating though the WASH master plan gives a clear road map for speeding up the water and sanitation campaign,” said Pokhrel. Sanitation coverage has been achieved among 70 percent of the total nation population, leaving out the remaining 30 percent prone to sanitation induced diseases and risks.

By Nirjana Sharma.

This article was first published at My Republica. It was part of a media advocacy partnership between WSSCC, Geneva and CLTS Foundation Global.

The post What it takes for a change? appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

Swachh Bharat campaign: More money down the drain

CLTS Foundation Global — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 08:59:10 +0000

Subsidy-driven Swachh Bharat is a failed, old idea. What is needed to stop open defecation is a community-driven approach that has worked wonders in Bangladesh

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti last year, the then newly elected Modi government launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan with zeal. A host of ministers, including the PM himself, were seen on the streets with brooms in their hands, promoting and propagating the mission. The programme set up an ambitious target of constructing 12 crore toilets in five years, that is, before October 2019. The government aims to achieve total sanitation.

But does India really need a tsunami of toilets?

The question forces itself to come to the forefront as subsidy-driven sanitation programmes in India have been pumping crores of rupees for the past three decades, without any success in bringing down open defecation.

The goal of all previous governments has been to achieve total sanitation or a complete stop to open defecation. In 1999, the NDA government called its programme Total Sanitation Campaign which was later renamed as Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan by the UPA government in 2012. And now the new government calls it Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA). Moving towards its target, SBA has already provided 95 lakh toilets. But do they work? More importantly, do all of them even exist? These are the questions no one is asking, least of all the government.

The 12 crore target is based on the number of households which are still practising open defecation. If, on average, a household has five members, then the population that would be covered under SBA in five years would be 60 crore.

Despite change in governments over the past few decades, the strategy for achieving total sanitation has remained the same – to provide subsidy for building toilets free of cost. “The philosophy seems to be that people don’t have toilets because they can’t afford them. Or because people are idiots and don’t know how to get toilets,” says Kamal Kar, who pioneered a no-subsidy approach called the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS). Kar was honoured with the 2015 Sarphati Sanitation Life Time Achievement Award in November this year at Amsterdam.

Interview: Kamal Kar, Chairman, CLTS Foundation Global

CLTS is a demand-driven sanitation approach where people change behaviour through peer pressure and awareness. People are taught to find out how exactly their neighbours’ faeces is entering their food. Once they know that, they would stop open defecation, subsidy or no subsidy, says Kar.

CLTS has been embraced by about 60 countries all over the world. They include neighbouring Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. According to Kar, Bangladesh started off worse than India a decade ago but is now all set to declare itself open defecation-free in 2016. Pakistan is also moving in the same direction though it calls CLTS as Pakistan Approach to Total Sanitation (PATS). So is Nepal. But India continues to follow the subsidy approach which is a top-down outlook.

The government’s role has principally been that of a supplier. Kar says this approach has led to supply of a large number of toilets which have crossed the number of households requiring toilets. “If one counts the toilets supplied under all the central and state programmes in the past 30 years, it is a tsunami of toilets that India faces with the SBA too willing to achieve its target.”

The present target for total sanitation under SBA is to construct 65,000 toilets every day, says Kar. To ensure this, the subsidy has been increased three to four times. Earlier it was ‘7,500 per household, whereas now it is ‘12,000 per household. The outcome of all these supply-driven programmes has also been much the same. Open defecation continues.

Kar cites the census findings of 2011. It indicates that 70 million toilets are missing. Where did they disappear? he asks. It points to something. But no one is willing to look into it or learn a lesson, says Kar. Besides, 600 million people still defecate in the open as per the census, he adds. So what happened to the toilets? Shouldn’t someone look at the fate of toilets that are already there through government subsidies? Kar asks.

Where India stands:

Year	Population (in crore)	Open defecation (unimproved) in urban areas (in population %)	Open defecation (unimproved) in rural areas (in population %)	Open defecation (unimproved) all over (in population %)
1990	86.88	29	91	75
2015	128.23	10	61	44

In October, a workshop called Journey to Zero was held in Dhaka, in preparation for the sixth conference of South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN). Kar, who was invited at the workshop, said that India spends one of the highest amounts on sanitation each year. But it has the largest number of people who practise open defecation.

Bangladesh adopted CLTS in 1999. Kar, who had then been working on participatory approaches to social problems, conceived this approach which was rooted in creating awareness about faecal contamination of food and motivating communities to analyse and map contamination of their food through open defecation. Bangladesh, under the guidance of Kar, decided to go for this approach. At that time only 33 percent people in Bangladesh had access to toilets.

Dhaka which hosted the first SACOSAN conference in 2003 will host the sixth summit next year in January. And it is expected that Dhaka will declare itself to be open defecation-free there.

Kar cites the example of Bangladesh to show that it is not the want of wealth that hinders total sanitation. When Bangladesh started its journey to total sanitation in 1999, it was the third poorest nation, as per UNDP. But according to the joint monitoring program progress report on sanitation and drinking water (2015) by WHO and UNICEF, Bangladesh has already achieved 99 percent of the total sanitation target as well as part of goal seven of millennium development goals, which is total sanitation.

India has taken the political decision to stick to wrong decisions despite knowing that they never worked, says Kar. The only state which tried to shift to CLTS was Himachal Pradesh in 2006, and it was a success. But the state government later went back to the subsidy driven approach. Today no state has the courage to defy the centre as they fear that subsidy would be denied to them and they would lose out financially. Besides, every government loves subsidies. It is a known fact and Kar blames this primarily for government’s bias towards subsidy-based approach and its failure to wipe out open defecation.

“CLTS is no rocket science. The whole world has understood it. If you don’t change behaviour, then you won’t use a toilet even if you have one,” says Kar. The numbers say it all. The money allocated for sanitation year after year has said it all. Unfortunately, policy makers who need to realise the futility of their efforts and expenditure refuse to wake up.

By Sreelatha Menon. She is a freelance journalist.

This article was first published at Governance Now. It was part of a media advocacy partnership between WSSCC, Geneva and CLTS Foundation Global.

The post Swachh Bharat campaign: More money down the drain appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

Swachh Bharat In Action: Communities Drive The Sanitation Revolution In Chhattisgarh

CLTS Foundation Global — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 07:15:29 +0000

The atmosphere is upbeat in Tipakhol, a remote tribal village in Chhattisgarh, as women gather to narrate their sanitation story: How all the 70-odd families used to climb up and down a distant hill to answer the nature’s call, spending, at least, an hour every day in the process, and how everything changed in a matter of just two weeks.

Tipakhol is one of the first few villages in Raigarh district that have become open-defecation-free (ODF). The transformation in the village has not only liberated men and women from the age-old practice of open defecation but has also empowered marginalized groups. “We constructed our toilets using our own money and locally available materials like bamboo and stones,” said Parvati Naik, a middle-aged woman with a veil. “If we could end open defecation in our village, we can also end alcohol abuse and other vices that have been the bane of our populace,” Parvati continued. She not only constructed her own toilet but also supported the entire village in becoming ODF.

The successful sanitation movement in Tipakhol has brought to light people’s power to bring about changes in their lives through collective effort. “This is the power of community-driven approaches,” said Mr. Durga Naik, a block coordinator in Raigarh district and master trainer of the community-led total sanitation (CLTS) approach. “Until recently, women were not even taking part in village-level meetings. Now, it is a matter of pride they actively participate in the development of the village,” he said.

In the recent past, 55 villages and 16 gram panchayats have been declared ODF in Raigarh district through the CLTS approach. CLTS consists of “trigger tools” to awaken the communities. One of the tools is used to show them how flies take off from open defecation spots, travel straight and desecrate their drinking water and food. This leads to realization and a sense of unity and collective responsibility to solve their problems and ultimately ensure a transformation.

However, CLTS method alone is not enough to achieve village-level changes. The administration has to work hand in hand with the communities to facilitate the process of change. Nilesh Kshirsagar, the Indian Administrative Service (I.A.S.) officer, set up a district-level team to scale up the sanitation campaign when he was CEO of Raigarh Zila Parishad. “Once the demand for toilets is created, we encourage communities to build toilets using their own money. This leads to commitment and ownership which in turn results in higher usage. After a village is declared ODF, we transfer the subsidy amount to the village for community development”, Kshirsagar said. Despite the CEO’s transfer, the people who worked closely with him continue to take the campaign to other villages. The CEO’s official driver has become a strong believer of community-led movements and now doubles up as a sanitation motivator in villages.

Mithlesh Sevta in the center accompanied by the Navratn and other villagers in Brahman Bedi

Raigarh is not the lone district in Chhattisgarh working on sanitation. Many other districts have joined the crusade. Rajnandgaon district, which was facing slippages in its sanitation performance, decided to scrap the subsidy-driven approach and switch to CLTS. In Brahman Bedi, a sleepy tribal village in Rajnandgaon, the movement is led by a differently-abled boy, Mithlesh Sevta. He takes his tricycle, painted with sanitation messages to every nook and corner to create awareness. Supported by the “Navratn”, a team of nine gems from the village, he also plays songs in the local language to educate villagers.

In Dakko Tola, another village in Rajnandgaon, a local mason, Kushal Singh, narrated the transformative process in his village. “Space was a constraint in some of the households. But that did not stop us from constructing toilets. People constructed toilets within their homes, next to the kitchen, or in the cow-shed, thereby breaking free from age-old beliefs”, Singh said. Dakko Tola which became ODF a year ago has come up with the unique idea of installing a “Bachat Bank” (Savings Bank) outside household toilets. Households make use of the money collected in the piggy bank for repair of toilets as well as buying hygiene and health products.

So far, 187 gram panchayats have been declared ODF in Rajnandgaon. Like Raigarh, the efforts in Rajnandgaon are also driven by local champions. “While we create a conducive environment for change at the district-level by passing the necessary guidelines and orders, we allow communities to take charge in the field. Whenever I get a chance, I personally visit the villages to speak about sanitation”, said Mukesh Bansal, I.A.S, Collector, Rajnandgaon, who believes constant communication with the households is the key to transformation.

Kushal Singh, the local mason of ODF Dakko Tola, poses in front of his toilet along with the Bachat Bank on his right.

In the recent past, Chhattisgarh has seen the birth of many such inspiring stories. In Sarguja district, for instance, sanitation has led to livelihood opportunities for women groups which are busy manufacturing bricks that can be used for toilet construction. Padmashree Phool Basan who leads a wide network of 12,000 self-help groups with over 2,00,000 members said in an interview that the sanitation movements can also be leveraged for new livelihood opportunities for women. “We need some training on the technical and marketing aspects of producing eco-friendly hygiene products like soaps, detergents, and sanitary napkins”, Ms. Yadav said.

While districts have been busy with their campaigns, their success has depended heavily on state-level support for such reforms. A number of enabling guidelines have been passed at the state-level paving way for faster reforms at the district-level. “We have circulated several notes and guidelines to the districts which carry the implementation details, the technological aspects of constructing toilets as well as information on monitoring of performances”, M. Geetha I.A.S, Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission, Government of Chhattisgarh said. “Once the state decided to adopt the CLTS approach, it became easier for the districts to follow suit”, she said.

Parvati Naik in front of her toilet in Tipakhol village.

Chhattisgarh is one of the most backward States in India in terms of access to sanitation with over 85% of its rural population practicing open defecation. But if the current wave of reforms continues, Chhattisgarh will send across a strong message to other States that mass-scale transformation is possible even in the poorest and conflict-ridden regions in India. And that this transformation is led by communities and its unsung heroes with the power to break barriers, transform behaviors, and unite people towards a common cause.

By Somya Sethuraman

Somya Sethuraman is a sanitation expert and has worked with several local and international organizations that specialize in the provision of water and sanitation.

This article was first published at Swarajyamag. It was part of a media advocacy partnership between WSSCC, Geneva and CLTS Foundation Global.

The post Swachh Bharat In Action: Communities Drive The Sanitation Revolution In Chhattisgarh appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.