Case5-July-2017
Mysuru region in DHAN Foundation is spread over Mysuru, Chamarajanagar and Mandya districts in Karnataka. The first location initiated in this region was Malavalli in Mandya district, which is a rural block, Kollegala is another rural federation promoted in Chamrajanagar district. There are five federations promoted in urban locations such as Mysuru town, Bannur, Nanjangud, Periapatna and H D Kote.
When the nation is fast moving towards the goal of Swachh Bharath, we also felt the need to engage our community in this agenda. We are working with 30,000 families in these eight federations. When we conducted a survey in these federations, we came to know that out of 30,000 families, 8,658 members do not have toilets and as many as 1,545 toilets are in defunct state.
We started with awareness programmes in the villages during the cluster meetings. We also collaborated with the Panchayats to take the mission forward. Our consultations with the members revealed that many families have space but have not constructed a toilet for want of funds. Due to the drought, people find it hard to make their living with meagre income.
As the people were not ready to construct toilets due to lack of money, we took up the cause with the Panchayats. The Panchayats came forward to issue a subsidy on immediate completion of toilets. So, we designed a special loan product of Rs. 15,000 for the members to take-up the construction of toilets. The loan funds were accessed from commercial banks through their self-help group (SHG) linkages. The Panchayats also committed themselves to release toilet subsidies without delays, so that SHG members can close their loans in the groups.
Since the government’s main focus is also on sanitation, it came out with an innovative and compulsive policy of linking the Public Distribution System (PDS) benefits with that of toilet construction. So, the people were instructed to get toilets constructed if they wanted to receive ration from the PDS. This stand also compelled the people to come forward to take up the mission.
In 2016, we conducted cluster Mahasabha in all the seven federations. We invited the block executive officer, Swachh Bharath Mission Officer and Taluk Health Officer (THO) to the Mahasabha to spread awareness among the people and also emphasise their commitment to release the toilet subsidy amount through the Panchayat to the members as early as possible. We made it a point to focus only on sanitation in the Mahasabha event. The Mahasabha is an event in which as many as 800 members from each cluster would participate.
We organised a procession in each Mahasabha. Members carried placards and raised slogans on sanitation and hygiene. The procession went through the villages to create awareness among the villagers. The members took an oath to have the toilets built in three months. Also, they vowed to maintain a clean environment and start revival and reuse of the defunct toilets. Witnessing the community response all through the events, the Block Executive Officers were very happy to support the Kalanjiam members in constructing toilets and released the subsidy immediately.
We also encouraged the community leaders to act as facilitators in promoting the toilet construction in their neighbourhood. As many as 70 such community leaders were involved in the process and they were imparted special orientation and awareness on the need for constructing toilets and its health implications. Realising the importance, many of the facilitators were deeply engaged in transforming themselves into activists to promote the cause of toilet construction.
The initial responses were snail paced. In Bannur federation, 190 members came forward at first. Similarly, 50 members from the B C Halli Panchayat, Kodagalli Panchayat, 70 members from Madgalli village, and 70 members from Maliyur showed interest. However, with sustained efforts of the district administration, DHAN’s field staff and community leaders, people slowly started showing interest in constructing toilets in their homes. Last year, through the SHG credit support, 2,493 members have constructed toilets in their homes in the Mysuru region.
The community facilitators were honoured by the Mysuru district administration for their active role in propagating the cause. They were instrumental in promoting awareness among the SHG members and acted as a catalyst in reaching the goal of Swachh Bharath.