With a view to improve the quality of rural life and ensure women’s dignity while answering nature’s call, the West Tripura District administration launched the Total Sanitation Campaign in the early 2000’s. Officials involved were certain that the district would be 100% open defecation free and all targets could be met by the end of 2004.
West Tripura’s District Water and Sanitation Mission (DWSM) kick started the sanitation drive by spreading the word about good personal hygiene and the role ‘pucca’ toilets play in achieving it. After an intense 3 month Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign which also included the training of masons in constructing quality toilets, October 2003 saw the distribution of squatting plates, which use very little water for flushing.
With a population of over 16 lakhs, the drive shown by the West Tripura District Administration to ensure that all individual households and schools were brought under the sanitation net by 2004 is commendable, indeed.