Page 5 - 6-Issue_Tata_Water_Mission

trained in PRA (participatory rural appraisal)
and CLTS (community-led total sanitation)
techniques so that they could address the
apprehensions of the villagers. The idea was
to empower people living in the villages to
lead the movement towards eliminating open
defecation, and change their sanitation habits.
A campaign named ‘Gaon Parcha Jyotirmoy Pal credits the Zila Swachh Bharat Prerak
Abhiyan’ (clean village campaign) was rolled programme for providing him with the opportunity
out to accelerate the formation of Nigarani to understand how the government machinery works
Samitis that would monitor progress of toilet
construction, motivate the swacchagrahis Meeting with all the mining contractors in the
and bring the village Sarpanch, district-level area, and tying up with the mining companies,
officers, rural development officers, and the he convinced them to adopt one gram
local MLA on a common platform. panchayat each and build toilets with their CSR
Through the Nigrani Samitis, mass rallies funds. As a result, many people came forward
were carried out, mainly by the women and to sign up as swacchagrahis, and toilet coverage
children, to educate villagers on the need in Koida has more than doubled from 10 per
for toilets. The team conducted block-level cent to 21 per cent now.
‘convergence meetings’ to apprise the local The number of swacchagrahis in
SBM-G officers on the progress being made in Sundargarh district, which was 200 when he
their blocks and solicited their active support. joined, has swelled to 460 today and is growing.
Villagers also had apprehensions on With their help, and the over 950 Nigrani
how they would maintain toilets owing to Samitis he helped create, Jyotirmoy’s efforts
the scarcity of water — temperatures in have borne fruit. After corrections made to the
this hilly and arid district can go up to 45 baseline survey of 2012, around 47,000-odd
degrees in peak summer. Through detailed households remain out of the total target of
demonstrations they were told that the amount 138,090 for toilet building, and Sundargarh is
of water used in the toilet pans was the same as well on its way to becoming open defecation
what they carried outside for open defecation. free over the next couple of months.
Through all this, Jyotirmoy credits the
DIGGING IN DEEP ZSBP programme for providing him with a
Sundargarh being a mining belt, many of its unique opportunity. “I had worked with NGOs
rural residents were employed as labourers in but knew nothing about how the government
mining activities. In one such block, Koida, functions,” he says. “I now understand a lot
Jyotirmoy was finding it difficult to find men more about the government machinery and
to work as swacchagrahis or in Nigarani Samitis programmes, and also get to see the work of
because they were all busy toiling in the mines. high-level IAS officers from close quarters.” ˜

TOILET COvERAGE
l In October 2017: 42%
l In March 2018 57%*
*As per corrected and updated baseline survey figures
TATA WATER MISSION - A Tata Trusts InitiativeTATA WATER MISSION - A Tata Trusts Initiative 5 5