Open defecation is a major health hazard and causes enormous hardship, especially to rural women. Government funds for constructing toilets have to be supplemented with awareness campaigns to motivate ordinary people to do their part. Sarola, a village in Maharashtra, was able to become "open defecation free" with effective community participation, taking advantage of the Sant Gadgebaba Gram Swachhata Abhiyan. Toilets were built in every house, along with systematic management of solid waste. The village testifi es to the larger social benefi ts that can come from the efforts of a group of determined youth.
Nitin Dhaktode (nitin.tiss@gmail.com) is presently working in the Society for Social Audit Accountability and Transparency, Department of Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh.
The author would like to thank Swati Banerjee, Dnyaneshwar Bansode, Jean Drèze, Reetika Khera, Sowmya Kidambi, Sudhir Maske and Ashwini Survase for their support and encouragement.
Please click here to download the entire article.