Harnavada, Madhya Pradesh: For Sunita Bai, a walk to the fields every morning to go the toilet was as much a struggle as an embarrassment. This August, the 26-year-old, who suffers from polio, managed to convince her father-in-law, a poor landless labourer, to build a toilet at their home.
Inspired by her story, at least other 80 families built toilets and now all 182 houses in the village boast of a toilet. Located in Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore distict, Harnavada village was declared ‘open defecation-free’ on October 2, Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary, this year.
“When I came here, I faced problems. I then spoke to my father-in-law and convinced him to make a toilet and inspire others in the village,” said Sunita Bai whose husband also works as a landless labourer.
But building a toilet was nothing short of a challenge for her family. With no savings or a permanent source of income, Sunita Bai’s father-in-law Lalji Ram, took a loan of Rs. 18,000 from the bank and built the toilet. After an assessment by local authorities, Rs. 12,000 was reimbursed to him within a month – the government pays each person up to Rs. 12,000 to build a toilet as part of its Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign).
“We built a toilet as cleanliness is important and my daughter-in-law, who has polio, had difficulty in going out,” said Lalji Ram, 65, who is the first in his village to build a toilet under the central scheme.
“I saw the toilet made by Lalji Ram. We also wanted a toilet but did not have money. Later, when the panchayat came to help, we built it… Our village is now much cleaner and this year, less number of people fell sick,” said Geeta Bai, a resident of the village.
Local authorities are hoping that Harnavada’s story will inspire and encourage other villages to build toilets in their homes.
