Sanitation messengers to promote use of toilets

Centre asks states to appoint them in each gram panchayat

brajesh

Brajesh Kumar | July 26, 2011



In a move to create awareness among the rural population about the benefits of using toilets, the rural development ministry has asked the states to appoint sanitation messengers in each gram panchayat.

The messengers, who will be called 'Swachchata Doots', will be not only be responsible for creating awareness in community towards safe sanitation practices, they will also indulge in shaming those practicing open defecation by taking up walks in open defecation areas.

The shift to create awareness follows a realisation by the government that the cash incentives to build toilets, without an emphasis behavioural change, does not work.

According to the guidelines issued by the RD ministry, gram panchayats with a population of less than 2,000 will have at least one swachchhata doot and GPs with more than 2000 people will have minimum two swachchhata doots.

The objective according to rural development ministry officials is to provide a local person as consultant in the gram panchayats for sustainable total sanitation campaign and to catalyse behavioural changes in individuals in respect to open defecation, hygiene, water safety, safe disposal of solid and liquid waste

A swachchhta doot will also be responsible for spotting and reporting on changes and trend of village water sanitation situation, possession of toilets by different groups, excreta calculation, contamination mapping, etc.

He/ she will also be expected to visit school and anganwadi at regular intervals for discussion on cleanliness, maintenance and use of toilets, pursue introduction of discussion after prayer meetings about the need for installation of toilets.

Total sanitation campaign was launched in 1999 with the stated objective of making the country open defecation free by 2015.
  
 

Comments

 

Other News

How social media is reshaping elections

Since Brazil’s return to direct presidential elections in 1985, no candidate who finished second in the first round of polling had ever won the presidency. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, now 81, has just done it. What explains the comeback, and what changed in Brazilian politics to make it possi

Cabinet approves Dearness Allowance, Dearness Relief

The union cabinet chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the release of an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners with effect from 01.07.2026 representing an increase of 3% over the existing rates of 6

Cyclone Arnab strikes Andhra as warming oceans amplify storm risks

Cyclone Arnab made landfall along the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts in the early hours of Wednesday as a very severe cyclonic storm, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 125–135 kmph and gusts reaching 150 kmph. Its rapid intensification has raised concerns about how warmer oceans, global warmin

Counting matters but which ones?

The first instinct of public policy is to count. Its harder task is to count what counts. We have become remarkably good at measuring the reach of the welfare state vis-à-vis beneficiaries covered, rupees transferred, houses built, connections installed and services delivered. But some of the most

Inching closer to a trade deal with America

The cooperation between India and the United States goes back quite a time. We need to relegate that era to the backburner when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited US in the times of president Dwight Eisenhower and called the American let-off of 10 million dollars in defence aid to Pakistan as a “gun w

Manch vs Musk: Forty people and a foreign billionaire

About forty people walked the roundabout on Teen Murti Marg to the gate of Chanakyapuri police station, a distance you could cover in under a minute, on Friday to protest against Elon Musk’s Starlink. The walk was called by the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch. Nobody joined them on the way, and nobody seeme

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter