World Toilet Day: Health and Nutrition is Equally Important, says Sunderkera Gram Panchayat

19 November is celebrated as World Toilet Day. Events were held under Swachch Bharat Mission, across the country. PRIA, with the help of Water Aid, is trying to attain objectives mentioned under Swachchh Bharat Mission in relation to rural sanitation. World Toilet Day is a day to take action. The aim of World Toilet Day is to raise awareness about all those in the world who don’t have access to toilets, despite the fact that it is a human right to have clean water and sanitation. Of the world’s total population of 7 billion people, 2.4 billion people do not use a basic toilet. Almost 1 billion people still defecate in the open. Without good sanitation, women and children are particularly at risk of disease and malnutrition. The people of Sunderkera Gram Panchayat in Raipur Zila Panchayat, Chhattisgarh, decided to hold a special gram sabha on the occasion of World Toilet Day. Yes, they wanted to raise awareness about the lack of toilets, but they also wanted to highlight that health and nutrition are equally important. This is one of the goals of the village sanitation plan prepared by the villagers (with support from PRIA). The plan was shared in the special Gram Sabha organized on 19 November. To enable participation of everyone, particularly women and children, the sabha was held in the evening. Women often cannot attend gram sabha meetings as they are busy with numerous chores during the day, and children are expected to be in school. Gender sensitivity can be displayed in simple ways, like the time at which events are held. What a turnout there was in Sunderkera that evening! 1800 villagers (including children) attended the event. After the plan was presented, the villagers took an oath to make their villages open defecation free. The programme concluded with a local cultural events. The village sanitation plan prepared by Sunderkera is a culmination of a series of capacity building activities undertaken by PRIA in its project to promote community led total sanitation in Chhattisgarh. Several panchayati raj members, grassroots health functionaries, village youth and community leaders have been sensitized to the issues of sanitation, health and hygiene. A cadre was formed whose primary role is to create awareness among the general public. Panchayati raj members were also trained on participatory planning, to enable them to lead the process of community based village sanitation planning. The combined efforts of the people has resulted in Sunderkera’s village sanitation plan being produced. And on World Toilet Day, Sunderkera Gram Panchayat began the process of owning its sanitation plan.

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