The Swachh Bharat Revolution

SHALIMA NISHAD, A student of class 7 from Jashpur district in Chhattisgarh, wrote an emotional ‘appeal’ to her parents on 30 April 2016 (the day when schools were closing for summer vacations), just like the other 69,663 schoolgoing children in the district. All she wanted was to get a toilet built for her family before the school re-opened. She was a tad more persuasive and persistent than some of her friends – who made a similar demand – which compelled her ‘Daau’ to build one for her in the first week of May itself. After all, Shalima wanted to be the best amongst all swachhata balveers of the district – a recognition which many of her age, living in big cities, would hardly think of striving for.

Constant motivation by Ms Ursela Toppo, a primary-school teacher in Kunkuri, Jashpur, led to the construction of toilets by twenty families. Similarly, Rohit Lakda, president of the college social group ‘YUVA’, along with his group members, started a campaign in early August 2016 where they reached out to the owners of the local eateries (dhabas and small hotels) of the district, asking them to build and use toilets. Courtesy of the effective ‘triggering’ led by these youngsters, four of the eateries completed the construction in twenty days.

When the women of village Geedha in Jashpur district, while fasting for their husbands’ long life on Haritalika Teej, also observed a swachhata upawas, it became evident that the impetus for change is not merely a trickledown effect, but is spreading from the ground up. The women said they observed the fast so that their ‘prayers to ensure that their district becomes Open Defecation Free are answered at the earliest’.

Quite evidently, a revolution of sorts took place in Jashpur. Such stories of incremental but substantive change abound in the district. This is a change that is palpable not just in outcome but in a transformed mindset. This outcome has not resulted from fear or force but from sheer willingness to be a part of the change. Jashpur is located in north-eastern Chhattisgarh – about 500 kilometres from the state’s capital. Almost 67 per cent of the population belongs to tribal communities (including Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups like Pahadi Korwas and Birhors) and more than 40 per cent of its area is under forest cover. It is a very picturesque district, endowed with natural beauty and blessed with simple natives whose endearing smiles and warmth will win you over in just a second.

Just like the entire country, in Jashpur too, implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) started way back in 2014, with the Prime Minister making a historic clarion call to the nation for a Clean India by 2 October 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. By 31 March 2016, however, of the 427 gram panchayats and 766 villages in Jashpur, only 21 and 43, respectively, had been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). It was only in April 2016 that, to ensure that Swachh Bharat gathers greater momentum in the district and to ensure the sustainability of the changes thus brought about, the Jashpur district administration took initiatives to make the programme more people-centric. After all, to bring about a long-term change in the sanitation scenario, active participation of local people was much more important than mere construction of toilets.

From April 2016, a series of interactive sessions were convened by the district administration. All grassroots-level workers – 397 panchayat sachivs, 201 patwaris, 2,946 anganwadi workers, 406 ANMs (auxiliary nurse midwives), 3,573 mitanins etc. – were sensitized and trained to educate and motivate people. Workshops were convened with all 6,915 people’s representatives of the district to make sure that each one of them understood the need and the importance of sanitation. The district administration machinery deputed 214 nodal officers to sensitize and trigger two gram panchayats each. In fact, till date, in every public meeting, sanitation-related behaviour change is the foremost discussion point for the entire district administration.

The identification of various natural leaders as Community Resource Persons (CRPs), their capacity building regarding Community Approach to Sanitation (CAS) techniques at regular intervals, district-level experience sharing workshops and motivational sessions for them at regular intervals were important aspects of the district’s key strategy.

Many such CRPs were intelligent enough to search for village-specific trigger factors themselves. For example, natural leaders in Basantala village realized that open defecation exposed them to elephant attacks, which led to the death of many locals. They used it as trigger factors and explained to villagers that such mortalities could be effectively minimized by the construction and use of toilets. Within no time, the villagers understood the gravity of the message and started working towards making the village ODF. Felicitating such natural leaders was an integral part of the campaign to keep their motivation and enthusiasm intact.

Swachhata Balveers, Chauwa Tolis and Teelu ka Toilet: Changing Things the Children’s Way

John F. Kennedy once said, ‘Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.’ School Led Total Sanitation (SLTS) was, thus, made the linchpin of the SBM campaign in Jashpur. Children not only understand things easily, they zealously disseminate them as well. Innovations like dedicated comic booklets for children, educating them about the need for toilets, were circulated in schools. They include Sh se Shauchalay and Teelu ka Toilet . (The success of Teelu ka Toilet later inspired Nellore district to have the book published in Telugu as well). Sanitation-related nursery rhymes and mathematical tables got the best response from children.

The formation of Chauwa Tolis (groups of children who undertake door-to-door visits in their village on Sundays and sing songs in the local dialect to motivate behaviour change) was yet another important success point. More than 2,000 Chauwa Tolis were formed in the district. All those children who thus succeeded in getting a toilet made were felicitated as Swachhata Balveers (142 as of now). The creation of the post of Swachhata Mantri in various schools and the construction of attractive school toilets (designed as Swachhata Express) to instil a liking for swachhata in schoolgoing children succeeded in ensuring that children become the most effective harbingers of social change on this front. Menstrual hygiene management was taken up as a special component of the campaign and thus Pyari Bitiya Camps are being organized in the district. About 15,000 adolescent girls participated in such awareness camps in the district.

Teacher-led Special Initiatives in Jashpur

Swachhata Corners were established in all schools of the district. Teachers of all 108 schools of Manora went one step ahead and got an innovative Swachhata Rack (for Rs 155) made all by themselves for their school students so that everything related to hygiene (comb, nail cutter, soap etc.) could be stacked neatly.

Special events were organized by teachers, e.g. celebration of Swachhata se Mitrata Diwas on Friendship Day 2016 by more than 6,000 members of shikshakarmi federations and farmer producer organizations in Jashpur. On this day, they not only took out rallies in various villages but also made visits to about 20,000 families, gifted them flowers and requested them to build and use toilets, thus befriending swachhata for a lifetime. Forty-two of them also gifted toilets to some of the financially backward women as a Rakhi gift.

Swachhata tables and Swachhata nursery rhymes were painted on walls of various schools by school teachers and also proved to be immensely popular amongst schoolchildren.

Quite Literally: Celebrating the Spirit of Swachhata by Including It in Local Festivities

From Raksha Bandhan to Diwali, many festivals fall around this time of the year. Why don’t we associate each festival with cleanliness? You will see, the tradition will become a habit.

In a country like India, which is known for its festivals, using these occasions to motivate people to embrace SBM came handy and added new vigour to the movement. To make the campaign more popular, for almost two years, almost every festival in Jashpur was linked with swachhata. The district celebrated Swachhata Bandhan Diwas one month before Raksha Bandhan, Independence Day as Hum Honge Kamyab – Swachhata se hi Swatantrata Day and Swachhata Ashtami on Janmashtami.

Music is a way of life in Jashpur, so it had to be made a part of the campaign which was to be led by people. Apart from the routine kala jatthas and the rural sangeet tolis, Jashpur has a unique distinction of having a swachhata music band of its own. The band, called Jashpur Jhankar, is one of its kind as majority of its members – like Shri Sandeep Sharma, its lead singer and a panchayat secretary – are grassroots-level Government functionaries. Courtesy of the band, Jashpur also has a swachhata anthem of its own in Chhattisgarhi which inspires people more than anything. Competitions like Raj Mistri Number 1 were organized to motivate the masons.

To give the Mission a personal touch, the district collector and chief executive officer of the zila panchayat rolled out initiatives like writing 11,500 letters to brothers and sisters of the district on Rakhi, requesting them to build and use toilets, thus actually fulfilling the promise of protection that brothers give to their sisters every year on this occasion. Public representatives, like the zila panchayat president, Mrs Gomati Sahu, wrote letters to 5,000 natives of various gram panchayats which had been declared ODF to ensure sustainability of the usage of toilets. Even doctors of the district regularly prescribed the construction and use of toilets to patients who did not have or did not use toilets.

Since it shares borders with different states, the local dialects in Jashpur change every 50 kilometres. For effective communication of the message, the swachhata pledge, songs, etc. were drafted in all dialects like Surgujiya, Chhattisgarhi, Oriya, Kudukh as well as Saadari.

Strategy and Action Plan

Gram panchayat-level/cluster-level/block-level teams were formed for implementation and monitoring.
Data collated through a baseline survey was taken as reference point for demand and goal assessment – provisions were also made for any new households which came up post the survey in any village.
After the assessment of the goal, master trainers were deputed at the district level who would lead the behaviour change movement through CAS teams led by Swachhata Preraks. The number of masons required was calculated and accordingly sufficient number of masons were trained at the district, cluster and block levels.
Adequate mechanisms were established to ensure regular reporting to the district control room every single day. Reports from gram panchayats and clusters were compiled at the block level and submitted to the district. WhatsApp groups were also made to make the reporting easier. Future interventions were planned on the basis of these day-to-day reports.
A material chain was established to ensure that interruption of supplies did not impede the construction. Regular meetings of suppliers were also convened at the district and block levels. SHGs which made bricks, etc. were also made a part of the chain. Special mechanisms were devised for remote areas chiefly inhabited by PVTGs like Pahadi Korwas and Birhors.
Women SHGs led the movement all through Jashpur.
Powerful sanitation messages were widely publicized in the district through wall paintings and slogan writing on all major buildings in the gram panchayats. SBM-specific milestones and pictorial messages were displayed on national highways, all major crossroads, etc.
Various campaigns like Darwaza Band Rallies, Swachhata Bandhan Fest, Gratitude Fest, Swachhata Selfie contest, Swachhata Sangoshthis, etc. were organized from time to time to maintain the zeal and enthusiasm in the district team.
Felicitation programmes were organized regularly to boost the morale of the ground team, especially of swachhata champions – women SHG members, field functionaries, public representatives, school/college students, teachers, etc. and those block-level/district-level officials who walked the extra mile to ensure that the entire district becomes ODF.
Exposure programmes were also organized for Swachhata Preraks, women SHG members, public representatives, etc. to visit nearby gram panchayats, blocks and districts to promote peer learning.

As Robert Frost famously said, ‘The woods are lovely, dark and deep/But I have promises to keep/And miles to go before I sleep’. In the context of the sanitation scenario in Jashpur too, while the change in the mindset of the people and the resulting outcomes are visible and heartening, it is important to keep the momentum going. Ensuring provision of piped water in the remotest areas, ensuring long-term sustainability and toilet usage by all at all times, provisions for solid and liquid waste management in all gram panchayats together form the way forward. But then, for a team as committed as the Jashpur team, there is no challenge too big to meet. Be it the district administration, be it public representatives, be it natural leaders or be it the community itself – the entire Jashpur team is determined to tackle every obstacle in its path with zeal, enthusiasm and dedication to ensure that this change that we have achieved with a lot of hard work and determination is sustained for all time to come.