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Sanitation coverage: 65%
Once free of his responsibilities, Shahbaz District’s ranking: 45%
contacted the SBM team, which was looking
for qualified people to jumpstart the SBM
initiative in UP. Shahbaz was assigned to
Amethi in August 2017. “Though I had change,” Shahbaz said. As was expected, the
worked with National Skills Development pradhans were spurred into action and within
Corporation and the IPAC, I was stumped by a short span, sanitation coverage registered a
the range and scale of the SBM initiative. On 10% jump.
the first day itself, I realised it was not going to To sustain the transformation that
be easy,” he said. was gathering pace in the district, Shahbaz
conceived other innovative ideas too. Anokhi
BRACING fOR A CHALLENGE Amethi ka anokha bhai — a competitive
Amethi district, with 13 blocks and 682 Gram event conceptualised around the festival
Panchayats, was carved out of Sultanpur of Rakshabandhan — saw over 685 men
district in 2010. The most backward regions, competing for a prize money of Rs 1 lakh after
which had been bypassed by the march of building toilets for their sisters. Anokhi Amethi
development, formed the bulk of the new ki anokhi guru dakshina – planned around
district. With 38% sanitation coverage, the Teacher’s Day – saw the participation of
district ranked 65 on SBM indices across the children from 1,700 schools of the district.
entire state.
To aggravate the situation, Shahbaz had fORGING SUCCESS
to deal with reticence of government officials, Hard work is the formula for success and
manpower shortage and lack of infrastructure. the aphorism proved true in Shahbaz’s case
The biggest challenge Shahbaz faced too. The sanitation coverage of the district
was changing the tide of disinterest and improved to 65% and its rank increased to 45.
disengagement among the village heads As on 2018, one block and 422 villages have
(pradhans) and stoking their interest in SBM. been declared ODF.
“Parochial political considerations had “The Tata Trusts supported SBM
forced them to take a myopic view of the initiative has improved the sanitation and
mission. In the absence of the push from the helped save the lives of countless people. I
pradhans, the initiative had lost its momentum believe the initiative — adopting a mission
in many of the GPs,” says Shahbaz. mode and enlisting young people to run
it — should be replicated for other welfare
ExPERIENCE PAyS Off measures too. Hiring youth to implement
Taking a leaf out of his experience with IPAC, schemes not only brings in new energy and a
Shahbaz conceptualised the idea of ‘Lunch with fresh perspective, but it also facilitates speedier
the DM (district magistrate)’ — a competitive implementation,” says Shahbaz.
event which saw the pradhans vying with each The transformation of Amethi is yet to
other to find a seat on the high table. be finished. “It is just a matter of time before
“In addition to the branding of the the district achieves the status,” according
entire event, the prospect of sitting across to Shahbaz. What is certain is the fact that
the table with the highest government official Amethi will continue to witness innovative
in the district acted as a potent catalyst for experiments till it becomes ODF. ˜

TATA WATER MISSION - A Tata Trusts Initiative 9