Maha Swachchta Jagrukta Yatra: 1,62,030 people reached in 7 days

The Maha Swachchta Jagrukta Yatra in Chhattisgarh conducted from 10 December to 16 December 2015 is a great testimony to PRIA's work to promote participation and enhance delivery of programmes.

It was indeed heartening to hear villagers say: “Pehli bar ham log gram swachhta yojana ke bare me sun rahe hain. Hamare gaon mein Swachchh Bharat Mission ke bare me aisi jankari aj tak kisi ne nahi di” (We are hearing about the village sanitation plan for the first time. No one has informed us about the Swachch Bharat Mission like this).

Maha Swachchhta Jagrukta Yatra is a grassroots campaign which will raise awareness of Swachch Bharat Mission (SBM) and the roles communities and panchayats can play in keeping their environment clean. In one week, 98 campaign events were organised which reached out to 162,030 citizens across 82 gram panchayats in Raipur and Sarguja districts.

1 in 10 people lack access to safe water. 1 in 3 people lack access to a toilet.

Safe and clean water and access to sanitation is a basic right of everyone. 10 December 2015 is Human Rights Day. Which is why the campaign was launched on this day.

Mr. Ajay Singh, Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Agriculture Production Commissioner, Government of Chhattisgarh flagged off the Yatra. Civil society, he said, should play an active role to make Chhattisgarh clean and free from open defecation. District Collector of Raipur, Thakur Ram Singh, Chief Executive Officer of Zila Panchayat Raipur, Mr. Avneesh Sharan, and Commissioner of Raipur Municipal Corporation, Mr. Sharansh Mittar, were also present at the launch.

"Mein shapath leti hoon ki main swachhta ke prati sajag rahungi aur uske liye samay doongi"

In the rallies that have been organized, thousands of men and women, girls and boys have taken this pledge to keep their gram panchayats clean. Pledges and support from communities for a clean India is overwhelming and humbling...

In the first two days, the focus was on protection of dignity and rights of adolescent girls and women as they are more vulnerable in open areas. "Meri beti badi ho rahi hai. Shauch ke kiye use bahar jane me khatra hai. Is liye ham logon ne gram panchayat se toilet banwane ko kaha. Swachh Bharat Mission se mere ghar me toilet ban gaya”, said one mother.

"Khule me shauch na karane ki aadat bachpan se hi sikhana chahiye,” said Navratna Leader, from Nawagoan Gram Panchayat, Raipur.

By the second day, the campaign was able to cover more than 27,500 people.

The Maha Swachchta Jagrukta Yatra rolled on and reached 42,500 people in three days!

By Day 4, news of the campaign had spread. The Director of the Administrative Training Institute in Raipur invited PRIA to address a group of 34 officers and tell them about PRIA's initiative to promote cleanliness, the objectives of SBM and the participatory village sanitation plans being facilitated. The officers heard the songs that have been developed for this campaign and took an oath to promote cleanliness in their areas.

"We want to make our villages neat, clean and open defecation free but for that we also need regular capacity building and handholding support," said the residents of Pirda village.

A comprehensive village plan, that includes a village sanitation plan, is an important component of a Sansad Adarsh Gram (SAG) or Vidhayak Adarsh Gram (VAG) as a model gram panchayat. PRIA has been building capacities of communities, youth, elected representatives and officials in Chhattisgarh to enable them to develop village sanitation plans.

At the end of Day 4, we had reached out to 57,000 villagers across 44 gram panchayats.

The Swachchta Jagrukta Mahayatra was able to disseminate information among 20,300 villagers on the fifth day of the campaign.

On the sixth day, the Yatra focused on persons with disabilities, who shared the barriers they face in everyday living, and how a toilet at home makes their lives so much easier.

“Swachh Bharat Mission mere jaise viklango ke liye ek achchha avsar hai. Maine apne gaon ke har viklang pariwar ke ghar toilet banwaya hai. Mein chahata hoo ki sabhi viklango ke pariwar mein toilet bane aur log uska upyog kare. Is kaam mein hamesha madad ke liye taiyar hoon.”

Knowing about SBM through the campaign means persons with disabilities can now access funds to build toilets at home.

End of Day 6, and the Swachchta Jagrukta Mahayatra had reached out to 98,000 people.

On the last day, office bearers of Lakhanpur and Abhanpur janpad panchayats of Sarguja and Raipur districts took an to remain committed to promoting cleanliness. The Chief Executive Officer of Janapad Panchayat Abhanpur thanked the Mahayatra team for all their efforts. He assured the team that when the panchayats draft their annual action plans very soon, the will incorporate the participatory sanitation plans facilitated by PRIA.


The campaign was conducted in collaboration with zila panchayats of Raipur and Sarguja in Chhattisgarh, with support from Water Aid.