Women fight to make two villages cleaner & safer

AURANGABAD: Women from two villages in Aurangabad successfully fought the battle against open defecation to lead a better, safe and dignified life. These women built 260 toilets in their villages at the cost of Rs 16.80 lakh availing a bank loan, which they have repaid through their savings.
For years, the government scheme to fight open defecation found little resonance in the village panchayats.The women, forced to relieve themselves in the open early in the morning or after sunset, felt their dignity and safety was being ignored. They decided to take the matter in their hands and started a silent revolution in Marathwada.
“I built a toilet for my daughter and daughter-in-law. Now, they are safe,” said Mainabai Thale from Panvadod, located 85 km from Aurangabad.
Women’s safety was the key driver behind the big push for sanitation in these villages. They received support from a group of social activists called Abhiyan. Group members Shridhar and Neela Mulay said that they strive to bring about better sanitation in coordination with self-help groups.
“Open defecation is still the norm in most parts of rural India. While men squat by the roadside in the early morning sun, culture dictates that women have to rise before dawn or wait until dark to relieve themselves,” said Neela.
Widespread illiteracy and lack of electricity means there is little knowledge of the two teenage girls being raped and killed in Uttar Pradesh in May 2014. The girls were attacked as they went out in the dark to relieve themselves.
Chandrakalabai Magre, who was the sarpanch, motivated a group of women to pledge that they would strive to make latrines available at every house. Along with her, Mangalabai Wankhede of Panvadod and Kamalbai Jaiswal and Mainabai Thale from Sarola village formed a unique example of SHGs solving the sanitation problem of their villages.
The women from these villages in Sillod taluka of Aurangabad district decided to work for ‘Gram Swachhata Abhiyan’ in 2014. They approached the branch of Maharashtra Gramin Bank in Panvadod to avail loan to construct toilets with pits for every needy member of the group.
The entire work of purchasing the construction material like bricks, cement, pipes, doors, windows, pots, distribution of materials to members, supervision of work, maintaining financial accounts and records was done by the women. They built 142 toilets in Panvodod and 118 toilets in Sarola few months back and brought an end to their trek into the bushes behind their home.
Roopa, resident of Sarola, narrates of the problems women face in the absence of proper toilets. “Even if a woman has diarrhoea, she has to wait until dark. She does not eat and has to wait until the evening. This makes her unwell and causes health problems.”
The journey to start the project began when the women visited Ralegan Siddhi and Hivare Bazar. A study tour of 120 women was arranged by 'Abhiyan' to these villages. Social activist Anna Hazare motivated the women for nearly one hour about what they could do in the village. Popatrao Pawar also encouraged and inspired them to take bold steps.
Enthused with the inspiration from these leaders, they conducted a meeting at their village that was attended by nearly 450 women and 600 men. The Panvadod branch manager of Maharashtra Gramin Bank, Deepak M Joshi and Vishnu Pandit, both Abhiyan activists, also attended the meeting. It was finally decided by all women to construct their own toilets as the best solution to make their villages clean and hygienic.
The women availed financial assistance of Rs 19.04 lakh from the bank without waiting for the government’s ‘Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan’ to reach their village. The government scheme does not have encouraging response in Sillod taluka with only 1 to 2% toilets existing in the villages. The women of Panvadod and Sarola have led by example and inspired about 8-10 neighbouring villages, said Sanjay Wagh, district coordination for the scheme.
Wagh added that under the scheme, an incentive of Rs 4,600 is given to people falling in seven categories such as BPL, disabled, widows, farmers holding less than two acres of land, non-farmers. The incentive is sanctioned after the toilets are installed and used.
Sailing through many odds like opposition by some villagers, grampanchyat members, absenteeism of masons, shortage of sand from river, the women not only courageously faced every problem along the way but also repaid the bank loan through saving from their household expenses.