Solution Exchange discussion - Documentation of good practices under Total Sanitation Campaign

From M. Kullappa, Water and Sanitation Program-South Asia, New Delhi

Posted 31 August 2010

After a decade of launching the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), India has seen significant successes in terms of the sanitation coverage, creating open defecation free communities/ GPs and solid and liquid waste management. Though numerous success stories have emerged across the country there are still many challenges in making all ofrural India “nirmal”, and sustaining the changes achieved. 

As part of advocacy and capacity-building through knowledge sharing, Govt of India plans to document the best practices in the country in terms of achieving total sanitation in a sustainable manner. The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Government of India, has requested the Water and Sanitation Program South-Asia (WSP-SA) to document best practices and prepare a compendium in implementing rural sanitation.

The main objectives of the assignment are (a) to identify and document the best practices in implementing rural sanitation program at district/block/ GP level and creating and sustaining ODF status (b) draw lessons for replications throughout the country by disseminating the best practices. You can get the format for reporting here (ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/wes/cr/res-06081001.pdf, PDF, 27 Kb)

Accordingly, we have developed the following criteria for identifying best practices: 

• Should be implemented at scale rather than a pilot project or ‘pocket of excellence’
• Should be sustainable and in operation for at least one year
• Should demonstrate community participation and use of local resources and capacity
• If the best practice is located in a village awarded the Nirmal Gram Puraskar, this is an advantage

I request members of the Water Community to provide the following information:

1. What best practices in sustainable sanitation have you personally come across? Please provide as many details including the process, participants, outcomes, area or population covered and location
2. Please mention specifically what made this practice sustainable

We will compile and submit these to DDWS for including in their report.

Responses were received, with thanks, from

1.     Anjal Prakash, SACIWaters, Hyderabad

2.     Arun Patre, India Water Portal, Bangalore

3.     Jim Baldwin, Independent Consultant, Goa

4.     Nitya Jacob, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), New Delhi

5.     Sunetra Lala, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), New Delhi

6.     Rajesh Kapoor, Cohesion Foundation Trust, Ahmedabad

7.     Niraj Joshi, Aga Khan rural Support Programme ( India ), Ahmedabad

8.     Joseph Plakkoottam, Development Management Network, Pune

9.    Debashish De, Society for Natural Resource Management and Community Development, Ghaziabad

Further contributions are welcome!

Summary of Responses

Comparative Experiences

Related Resources

Responses in Full

Summary of Responses

In the first three waves of sanitation, that began in the 1980s and continued till 2009, we saw a rapid expansion of sanitation-related infrastructure. First the government and later, people, constructed toilets that took their availability from around 20 per cent in the early 1980s to 57.2 per cent now (Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation). However, the usage of toilets remains very low at 46 per cent of individual toilets constructed (Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water, WHO-UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme 2010, page 43).

The challenge, therefore, is look beyond toilet construction and focus on increasing toilet usage.  The case studies mentioned below have one of the components that follow, which have made them examples of sustainable sanitation

• Adopting a pro-poor approach by improving poverty mapping, tailoring service delivery, introducing standards of sanitation appropriate to the socio-economic conditions of each community
• Improve accountability through social accountability
• Improve convergence with other government schemes and departments
• Expand the monitoring system to track outcomes, support regulation and disseminate knowledge
• Strengthen the panchayats as they have the ultimate responsibility to provide sanitation services, through suitable financial and capacity building programmes
• Increase investments in sanitation and provide cheaper credit
• Strong community involvement through the entire project lifecycle

An instance where these have come together successfully is in Medinipur, West Bengal . Here, sanitation has been scaled p through a mixture of creating a demand in communities, technology, institutions and marketing backed up a supply chain. However, it is important in this approach to continuously check the quality of pond water since people in this area use pond water for all their needs.  In neighbouring Orissa, Gram Vikas’ Rural Health and Environment Programme demonstrates how sanitation ought to move beyond latrines and be viewed as part of a larger attempt to improve the village environment. It also contrasts with government programmes where the quality of toilets is poor and water supply is unsustainable.

Across the country, in Gujarat, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme launched the Sustainable Community-Based Approach for Livelihood Enhancement (SCALE) in 2002 the poor, especially the marginalised and women. It addressed their livelihood issues by reducing the drudgery of women and provided them alternative energy sources along with sanitation. They have used biogas plants fed by both cattle and human waste to generate energy. In the Bhavnagar district, an NGO focused on behaviour change in its total sanitation campaign covering 70 villages.

In neighbouring Maharashtra , several panchayats have taken the lead to stop open defecation, and not just with the aim of winning the Nirmal Gram Puruskar such as in the Goreghar and Pangari villages of Satara district. The people of Aasgaon, Ahmednagar district, have converted this resettlement village into a model one that handles its solid and liquid waste extremely efficiently. Similarly in Mahabaleshwar the sarpanch initiated sanitation campaign in 1997.

The Jalswarajya project in Maharashtra provided limited support for families to handle solid and liquid waste. For instance, in Chitegaon village of Jalgaon district, officials constructed a community toilet but found villagers were not using it owing to a lack of water. They installed an overhead water tank after discussing the issue with the sarpanch, gram sevak the local NGO. These and other cases also highlight the critical role of panchayats in promoting and sustaining sanitation.

In Tamil Nadu, self-help groups federations provide loans to families below the poverty line (BPL) to make or upgrade toilets. In the Krishnagiri district, an NGO called Integrated People Development Plan floated 300 SHGs that have been proactive in promoting sanitation. In Uttar Pradesh, proponents of the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) have helped liberate manual scavengers by dry toilets into pour-flush ones. In some districts such Kanpur Dehat, they used women’s safety as the driver; several wall paintings showed a woman being carried off by dacoits while going to relieve themselves.

The Vizianagram Initiatives on Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Water Supply (VISHWAS) provided a model for establishing and managing community owned WATSAN facilities in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh, especially in remote tribal habitations, hilly regions and coastal villages. In Ramagundam town, the municipal commissioner got contractors to build low-cost toilets for slum dwellers, and municipal tax collectors to get the people to pay Rs 1,500 a toilet in three installments. The women responded enthusiastically to this scheme.

Comparative Experiences

Andhra Pradesh

Ramagundam municipality provides sanitation in slums, Karimnagar District (from  Debashish De, Society for Natural Resource Management and Community Development, Ghaziabad)

Ramagundam has thousands of squatters on its outskirts who live in very unsanitary conditions. The city's municipal commissioner started an intiative to provide them sanitation at lost cost. He asked contractors to build the required toilets and instructed the municipal tax collectors to motivate squatters to pay Rs 1,600 per household for getting a toilet with a concrete roof. Many women came forward to get the toilets and the scheme got good response from the community.

Gujarat

Community cohesion leads to promote total sanitation, Bhavnagar District (from  Rajesh Kapoor, Cohesion Foundation Trust, Ahmedabad)

There was low awareness about sanitation in this district till Lok Bharti, an NGO started work. It started a total sanitation campaign in 70 villages in which it promoted toilet-linked biogas plants, starting with the upper castes. People contributed in kind by providing labour, land and water. The NGO initiated behaviour change communication for the entire community. The programme covers 70 per cent of the community in these villages now. Read more.

Toilet-linked biogas plants introduced by Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) India reduce women's drudgery, Surat District (from  Niraj Joshi, Aga Khan rural Support Programme (India), Ahmedabad)

AKRSP India found women spent most of their time collecting firewood and lacked the place to defecate in south Gujarat. AKRSP initiated a programme to build, with community involvement, toilet-linked biogas plants that would address both issues. It ran a mass campaign for community mobilisation and linked sanitation to livelihoods, ensuring its success. It kept costs down by leveraging funds under different government programmes. Read more.

Maharashtra

From  Nitya Jacob, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), New Delhi

Sarpanch leads sustainable sanitation, Satara District

Goreghar village, Mahabaleshwar block, is a hilly area where sanitation was a major concern. The sarpanch started a campaign in 1997 to motivate people to build their own toilets, and the village was among the first to get the Nirmal Gram Puruskar in 2005. The village self-help groups have provided loans up to Rs 5,000 for toilet construction. Even many years after getting NGP, people do not defecate in the open. Toilets in schools and colleges also help students study further.

Waste-to-energy project leads to total sanitation, Mahabaleshwar District

In Pangari village, Mahabaleshwar, people had a problem with sanitation and procuring firewood. A former sarpanch who had heard about a government scheme to construct biogas plants, persuaded people to link them to their toilets. He overcame resistance from people towards using biogas generated partly from human excreta and tapped funds from government schemes to pay for the biogas plants. These meet the bulk of the fuel needs of most people.

A resettlement village adopts total waste management, Ahmednagar District

The people of Aasgaon in Ahmadnagar district were displaced from the Dom dam on the Krishna river. Under the guidance of the panchayat, they have converted this into a model village. The roads are tarred and straight, there are drains for rainwater that lead to recharge structures, while grey water from homes goes into kitchen gardens. Nearly all wet waste from kitchens feeds vermicompost pits. Each house gets water for a fixed time every day for which they pay Rs 400.

Tamil Nadu

SHG federations contribute to the construction of toilets, Vellore District (from  Nitya Jacob, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), New Delhi)

The poor here face a paucity of funds to make toilets. To address this, panchayat-level SHG federations are given seed money for toilet construction under the revolving fund of TSC. The money given to each federation depends on its size and repayment capacity. The NGO, Integrated People Development Plan, has floated 300 SHGs that play a critical part in maintaining sanitation in the village.

Uttar Pradesh

Innovative approaches leads to erradication of scavanging, Kanpur Dehat District (from  Sunetra Lala, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), New Delhi)

In many parts of Kanpur sanitation was not a priority till 2005 and manual scavenging was widespread. Under TSC, its proponents comprising village pradhans, district sanitation coordinators, district panchayati raj officers and other village motivators, brought about a revolutionary change in the lives of manual scavengers. They converted about 60,000 of dry latrines to pour flush ones and liberated over 1,200 scavengers, who have been rehabilited now.

Related Resources 

Recommended Documentation

Sanitation for All - Still a Long Way To Go (from Anjal Prakash, SACIWaters, Hyderabad)

Book; by; WaterAid; New Delhi; 2006;

Available at ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/wes/cr/res-06081002.pdf (PDF, 1.7 MB)

Contains several case studies of sanitation initiatives by non-government organizations, panchayats and other institutions 

Collection of monographs on water and sanitation (from Jim Baldwin, Independent Consultant, Goa)

Best Practice Notes; by Scott Wilson Capacity Building Consortium;

Available at ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/wes/cr/res-06081003.zip  (Zip file, 4 MB)

This is a collection of 20 notes on best practices in water and sanitation under the Jalswarajya programme in Maharashtra

Vishwas Project Completion Report (from Joseph Plakkoottam, Development Management Network, Pune)

Book; by Arcadis Euroconsult; Beaulieustraat 22, P.O. Box 441, 6800 AK Arnhem, The Netherlands; March 2006;

Available at ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/wes/cr/res-06081003.pdf (PDF; Size: 2.3MB)

Details the Vizianagram Initiatives on Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Water Supply that brought out significant change in the town

Documentation on AKRSP(I)’s South Gujarat Sanitation Initiative (from Niraj Joshi, Aga Khan rural Support Programme (India), Ahmedabad)

Paper; by Research Unit; AKRSP(I); Ahmedabad;

Available at ftp://203.124.149.174/public/wes/cr/res-06081001.doc (DOC; Size:76KB)

Describes AKRSP(I)'s intervention in south Gujarat through which it addressed fuel and livelihood issues as well as improved the sanitation condition in several villages

Recommended Organizations and Programmes

Arghyam, Bangalore (from Arun Patre, India Water Portal, Bangalore)

#599, Rohini, 12th Main , Indiranagar, Bangalore 560038 Karnataka; Tel: 91-80-41698941; Fax: 91-80-41698943; info@arghyam.org; http://arghyam.org/content/view/63/92/

Seeks to support strategic and sustainable efforts in the water sector that address basic water needs for all citizens

Gramalaya, Tricy(from Anjal Prakash, SACIWaters, Hyderabad)

C-62 B, 10th cross, Further West extension, Near water tank, Thillainagar, Tiruchirapalli 620018, Tamil Nadu; Tel: 91-431-4021563; Email: gramalaya@hotmail.com; http://www.gramalaya.in/; Contact Ms. J Geetha; Executive Director; gramalaya@airtelmail.in

Gramalaya is advocates low-cost toilet models which are affordable and acceptable by the local communities depending upon the local situation and willingness of the people

Jalswarajya, Maharashtra (from Jim Baldwin, Independent Consultant, Goa)

1^st Floor, Mantralaya, Madam Cama Road , Nariman Point, Mumbai 400032, Maharashtra ; Tel: 91-22-22885144; Fax: 91-22-22814623; director@mahagsda.org;

www.mahawssd.gov.in/dataentry/home.asp

A World Bank funded project, the project is designed to strengthen the implementation of water sector reforms all over the state, including those for sanitation

Nirmal Gram Puraskar, New Delhi

9th Floor, Paryavarn Bhawan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road , New Delhi 110003; Tel: 91-11-24366372; Fax: 91-11-24364113; nirmalgrampuraskar@nic.in;

http://nirmalgrampuraskar.nic.in/nirmalgrampuraskar/index.jsp

Incentive scheme to promote fully sanitized and "open defecation free" panchayats, blocks, and districts, which has led to better management of solid and liquid waste

Lok Bharti, Bavnagar, Gujarat (from Rajesh Kapoor, Cohesion Foundation Trust, Ahmedabad)

Sanosara, Taluka - Sihor, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India; Tel: 91-2846-283322; http://www.lokbharti.org/

The NGO ran a total sanitation campaign in 70 villages and works on a holistic concept of education through an inter-disciplinary approach

Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India), Ahmedabad(from Niraj Joshi, Aga Khan rural Support Programme (India), Ahmedabad)

Choice Premises, Swastik Cross Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedbad, Gujarat; Tel: 91-79-6427729, 6427025, 6733384

Using a livelihoods approach, it has promoted sanitation in large parts of south Gujarat that has also reduced the drudgery of women

Ministry of Urban Housing and Poverty Alleviation, New Delhi (from Debashish De, Society for Natural Resource Management and Community Development, Ghaziabad)

Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi; Tel: 91-11-23061928, 23063989; http://mhupa.gov.in/; Contact Ms. Kumari Selja; Minister of State; Tel: 91-11-23061928

The Ministry is tasked with providing urban housing and sanitation with an emphasis on providing basic services for the urban poor

Recommended Portals and Information Bases

India Water Portal, Arghyam, Bangalore (from Anjal Prakash, SACIWaters, Hyderabad))

http://www.indiawaterportal.org; Contact Mr; Deepak Menon; Tel: 91-80-41698941; deepak@arghyam.org

This is the leading repository of information related to water, sanitation and water-related governance in India

Related Consolidated Replies

Research on Sustainable Sanitation, Prakash Kumar, Stockholm Environment Institute-United Nations Children's Fund, New Delhi (Examples, Advice). Water Community, Solution Exchange India,

Issued 19/03/2010. Available at ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/wes/cr/cr-se-wes-25011001.pdf (PDF,210KB)

Seeks inputs on India-specific research papers for evidence-based advocacy that links sanitation with health, livelihoods, education, agriculture and energy

New Approaches to Better Sanitation during Emergencies, Rajeev R. Rana, United Nations Children's Fund, Supaul, Bihar (Examples, Advice) . Disaster Management and Water Communities, Solution Exchange India,

Issued 16/09/2009. Available at http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/environment/cr/cr-se-wes-drm-19080901.pdf(PDF,Size: 116KB)

Seeks inputs on the new examples/approaches to sanitation that can improve access and usage during normal times and emergencies

Responses in Full 

Anjal Prakash, SACIWaters, Hyderabad

As part of WaterAid's Policy team in Delhi , we had worked on a similar project to document successful cases and model. I have written two cases (Medinipur and Pune) and I was part of the team of researchers to document Gramalaya's case. All of them have modeled on large scale implementation and can be replicated. I am sharing this document with you which had initially published these cases. You can see the document at

(ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/wes/cr/res-06081002.pdf, PDF, 1.7 Mb)

Arun Patre, India Water Portal, Bangalore

Arghyam recently published a learning document on sustainable sanitation - Step by Step It is available for download here: http://www.indiawaterportal.org/node/11705. The report highlights a preliminary template formulated by Arghyam on the phases involved in a sustainable sanitation campaign, based on responses from civil society organisations. These consist of four distinct phases that involve planning, laying the foundation, implementation and finally ensuring that the toilets constructed continue to remain in use. The key aspects of the campaign include:

1. Building relationships with the community
2. Selecting appropriate hardware
3. Ensuring the smooth flow of funds
4. Monitoring quality and inculcating a sense of ownership

Jim Baldwin, Independent Consultant, Goa

Attached are 20 Best Practice Notes that I prepared during the World Bank supported Jalswarajya Project in Maharashtra . They cover a number of topics, including sanitation and health and warrant reuse. I would be happy if they are given wider circulation. They illustrate very well that for a small amount of expenditure there can be a tremendous impact on health - which is the ultimate goal of all that we are trying to do through TSC.

(ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/wes/cr/res-06081003.zip, Zip file, 4 MB)

Nitya Jacob, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), New Delhi

I had visited several villages in Maharashtra to study the Total Sanitation Campaign. In Goreghar village, Mahabaleshwar block, Satara district, with a population of around 500, all households had toilets as far back as 1997 and in 2005, it got the Nirmal Gram Puruskar. The then sarpanch Rajendra Baban Chormale was extremely proud to have been one of the few to get the award from the President himself. This has driven him to visit other villages and learn of other projects to implement in his village. Even many years after getting NGP, people do not defecate in the open even though I did see men urinating outside; somethings will just not change.

A college student, Vidya Sainath Gade, says the toilet in the house has helped her study further because she has been healthier because she no longer needs to ‘hold on’ till its dark and then risk molestation or snake bites to relieve herself. The schools and colleges she studies in have functional toilets with water; had they not had toilets she may not studied beyond class 10. Now she plans to do her MA and then work before deciding about marriage. When choosing a suitable boy, she will consider whether he has a toilet in his house, and if not, ask them to get one constructed before marrying into that house.

The village SHGs have lent up to Rs 5,000 to its members for making toilets and have motivated those members without toilets to get them constructed. This combination of peer pressure, awareness about the health benefits of using a toilet instead of OD and incentives from the government has ensured that all houses in the village have toilets. Women had a special interest in getting toilets in their houses because they suffered the most from UTIs, gastro-intestinal diseases and other ailments as they could not either defecate or urinate during the day. The problem was particularly acute for pregnant women who would not eat or drink anything during the day for fear of having to go, with the result that their babies would be under-weight or under-nourished. The toilets have been gender transformative.

The village began is journey towards total sanitation well before TSC or NGP appeared on the scene, in 1997 under the Sant Gadge Baba Swachata Abhiyan. It was one of the early achievers under this state-government scheme to promote sanitation in Maharashtra ’s villages. The momentum achieved under this in the late 90s and early 2000s carried forward under TSC and resulted in it getting the NGP in 2005. The sarpanch, village secretary, block panchayat head and BDO have together played a crucial role in raising awareness about sanitation and the need for building toilets to achieve total sanitation.

In nearby Pangari village, the then sarpanch Sargerao Sayaji Pangare used subsidy provided by the government under a scheme to construct gobar gas plants, linked to individual toilets and fed by a mixture of human faeces and cowdung. It cost him Rs 13,000 in 1983 to construct and he has used it continuously since then. It meets around 80% of his family’s cooking gas needs. The village for the NGP in the same year. This has helped them in getting projects sanctioned on priority from the government.

Aasgaon in Ahmadnagar district is a resettlement village. People displaced from the Dom dam on the Krishna river were resettled here. It’s on a hillock with a population of over 1,000. The tarred straight streets have stormwater drains that channel rainwater to drains outside the village for groundwater recharge. Grey water from the kitchens goes into kitchen gardens and nothing enters the drains. Nearly all wet waste from kitchens feeds vermicompost pits of  various sizes – I saw one in a 15 Kg oil tin and another in a large concrete shed. Each house has a large covered cement tank in front for fresh water, supplied daily for half an hour, except on Tuesdays, the dry day. All houses pay a flat Rs 400 for water charges. Every house has a toilets, mostly soak pit types, and everybody uses them. Now there are 182 IHHLs, 26 seats in the community toilets, two in the school, 1 in the anganwadi and panchayat. The village has won the Sant Gadge Baba Swachata award five times for as many different achievements.

In Tamil Nadu, Panchayat level SHG federations were being given seed money for toilet construction under the revolving fund of TSC, where a total of Rs 50 lakhs are made available in each district. The seed money given to each federation depends on the size of the federation and its repayment capacity. The federation gives loans from this corpus only to members from families below the poverty line (BPL) to either make new toilets or upgrade existing ones. Families above the poverty line (APL) are motivated to construct toilets using their own resources. Once the funds are advanced, the beneficiary has to make the toilet within 10 days and submit a certificate to the federation, with a photograph of the toilet. This is an example of building on an existing structure, that both empowers women and makes them central to the NGP process at the village level.

NGOs now play a major role in building awareness about sanitation among SHG members, and ensuring that the funds are utilized for toilet construction. The Integrated People Development Plan (IPDP), an NGO in Krishnagiri district, that has floated 300 SHGs in the Krishnagiri and Kaveripattinam blocks, first made funds available to SHGs for making toilets in 2003. IPDP President Asmathulla said their role goes beyond merely providing funds, to effecting behaviour change required to make people use the toilets.

The involvement of SHG members does not stop at getting the NGP. They also play a critical part in maintaining sanitation in the village form the point of health of the entire village, and safety and dignity of women. In Kattuputhur panchayat, Vellore district of Tamil Nadu, Manjula who is a member of the Indira Gandhi SHG says each member is responsible for cleanliness and hygiene in 6 households. She begins her rounds at 5:30 am and instructs the 6 families in her charge to use toilets, wash hands after defecation and before eating, bathe daily and brush their teeth after eating.

Sunetra Lala, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), New Delhi

My response is based on a field trip to western Uttar Pradesh in 2007 to study the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC). In parts of Uttar Pradesh, things changed in 2005. Led by the proponents of TSC, a diverse group comprising village pradhans, district sanitation coordinators, district panchayati raj officers and other village motivators, brought about a revolutionary change in the lives of manual scavengers. They succeeded in stopping manual scavenging from several villages across the state, changed mindsets and gave more decent work to manual scavengers. As many as 1200 scavengers were freed in the state since 2006 and 60,000 dry toilets were converted to pour-flush ones under TSC.

The TSC’s guidelines, revised in 2004 to include the conversion of dry latrines into pour-flush ones to eliminate manual scavenging in rural areas, provided the impetus to combat this age-old practice. The cornerstone of TSC is creating a demand for toilets. The initial focus in UP was on households with dry latrines to eliminate scavenging. In each district, the pradhans, panchayat members, village secretaries, block sanitation coordinators and village motivators were called for workshops and training. This sensitized them to the need for eliminating manual scavenging and the penalties for not complying. This process was repeated in villages, targeting families who had dry latrines. Inter-personal communication was used to persuade those resistant to change. Families below the poverty line (BPL) were offered Rs 1,500 as incentive to convert their dry toilets. This helped defray material costs while the family dug the pit for the latrines. Advocacy and social pressure helped to influence families above the poverty line (APL).

Along with converting dry toilets to eliminate the root cause of scavenging, the authorities persuaded scavengers to give up their occupation through inter-personal contact. This was essential to explain the reasons for doing so and also to assure them of employment after they stopped scavenging. One of the discriminatory practices was not to give scavengers any other work and village leaders played a key role in assuring them of livelihoods once they gave up scavenging. Most scavengers were women and their husbands had private or government jobs, or were daily wage earners. While most women scavengers readily agreed to stop working, some even joined the government’s efforts to end the practice.

There were those who refused to convert their dry toilets. For them, they resorted to stronger measures. The sanitation cell printed a one-page notice on behalf of the District Magistrate and distributed these to the pradhans, who in turn gave them to those who had refused to convert their toilets. They were also given to scavengers who were reluctant to change their ways. The notice in Hindi mentioned the Act and the penalties for non-compliance, and then offered a solution to both sides: subsidy under TSC for BPL families and jobs for scavengers.

Schools were the main point of entry for TSC. Once students learned, it was easier to influence the adults in the villages. Starting with hygiene education, students were taught the link between disease and open defecation as well as other aspects of hygiene. Schools and anganwadis were provided with separate toilets for boys and girls with two urinals and one latrine. Inside, there was a wash basin and soap. The children were taught by the hygiene educator to wash their hands after using the toilet. The walls of schools had posters with messages relating to sanitation and the principles of hygiene – cutting fingernails, bathing regularly, using footwear, washing hands, not eating cut exposed fruits, covering food and water, and using a dipper to get water from a pot. There were also messages about proper disposal of babies’ faeces and burial of organic waste to convert it into compose. Children carried these messages home and contributed in large part to the success of TSC.

Students also read out to adults the wall-posters painted under TSC at different places in the villages. These were slogans on the need and importance of toilets. For example, a painting on the wall of the secondary school in Faizulganj village, Moradabad district, appealed to people to construct a toilet because faeces lying in a dry latrine stink and cause diseases; scavenging is dehumanizing and; scavengers need to be paid every month while making a toilet is a one-time cost. It ended with a warning that under the Act that employing a scavenger, or scavenging, are offences, and spelled out the penalties for both.

TSC was central to efforts to eliminate scavenging in these villagers. The Campaign helped the authorities to demonstrate toilets could be built inexpensively – the common perception, and an important reason in the past, for people not to construct pour-flush toilets was they cost Rs 15,000 or more to build. The awareness campaigns helped people understand the link between disease and dry toilets that bred flies, vectors of several water-borne diseases, and polio. The Campaign also brought appropriate and affordable technology options and incentives for poor families.

After the Campaign was launched, pradhans understood that the administration was serious about eliminating scavenging, and would back any efforts that they made in this regard. There was also a focus on the lack of safety associated with open defecation. In Kanpur Dehat district, that according to the local people had many gangs of dacoits, a wall painting in Jallarpur village showed a woman who had gone to the fields to relieve herself being carried off by a dacoit. Another in the same village extolled the importance of choosing a house with a toilet when match-making for the safety and dignity of the bride.

The challenge was how to make an issue like sanitation and elimination of scavenging top priority in the administrative and political circles. A combination of awareness building measures, use of appropriate technology, and a range of incentives and even the threat of legal action created the desired result.

The role of TSC was to galvanize the local administration and PRI representatives to move sanitation and elimination of scavenging from being a non-issue to a top priority. In this respect, the pull effect of Nirmal Gram Puruskar (NGP), given to villages that completely stopped people from relieving themselves in the open, played a major role. It motivated villages to emulate awardees. This was borne out by the rapid increase in the number of NGPs awarded thus far.

One of the conditions for getting the Puruskar is elimination of manual scavenging in addition to 100% coverage and use of pour-flush toilets. In the case of households with dry latrines, it was more a matter of converting them to pour-flush toilets than changing the habit of open defecation as members of these households were used to defecating indoors.

The impact of NGP could be seen in Harora Ahtmal village, Puvarka block of Saharanpur district. In 2007 there were 546 families of whom 405 have their own toilets. Of these 135 were made by BPL families after the campaign was launched in the village, while the others were constructed by APL families before TSC began in the village.

Pradhans played a key role in the process of ending manual scavenging by reiterating messages of TSC in village meetings. Along with village motivators and gram sevaks (village secretaries), they kept up the local campaign. In close touch with them were block sanitation coordinators who acted quickly to convert dry toilets and provide IEC material. At the district level, sanitation coordinators formulated plans based on the district’s objectives for TSC, with a focus on eliminating scavenging. They conducted training and awareness workshops for PRI representatives and government officials at all levels.

Rajesh Kapoor, Cohesion Foundation Trust, Ahmedabad

Below is an example of good practices under the TSC:

Lok Bharti (Sanosra, Bhavnagar , Gujarat )

One of the good practices for sanitation in Gujarat is done by the Lok Bharti organization. It is an educational institute which runs a course on Masters in Social Work. It is situated in the Bhavnagar district.

The strategy adopted by the organization is very unique, which has led to the success of providing total sanitation in the villages in the area. In around 70 villages the organization started the campaign on total sanitation. Bio-gas and toilets were promoted in the community. The digging of land, water and labour wages for the mason were as a part of the contribution from the community’s side. The higher caste of the villages was targeted first as the organization thought that creating sanitation in the house is more of a change in habit rather then just going and constructing the sanitation facility. They felt that on seeing the higher caste people using toilets, the other castes, which are the middle and lower caste, will also be inspired and will try to develop sanitation facility in the village. The organization developed only one model for sanitation but the schemes for subsidy were different for APL and BPL families. The organization focused on behaviour change in the community as a whole. The organization works for education and hence they promoted this first in the villages with their own students. The students made the awareness programmes and their families adopted the sanitation facility. This made the promotion much easier. Since the last 20 years we can observe the difference in the mind set of the people and now they have also started to avail the toilet facilities at their homes.

In the present situation there is a problem of using the village common land for sanitation which necessitates the adoption of sanitation facilities at household levels. Due to the participatory approach of the organization and the strategy they adoped the model is considered to be successful in 70 villages, where it covers almost 70 per cent of the community belonging to different castes.

Niraj Joshi, Aga Khan rural Support Programme ( India ), Ahmedabad

In South Gujarat, AKRSP (I) (Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India)) during the course of PRA, discovered that the drudgery faced by women during collection of fuel-wood, and no closed space for defecation was one of the top most priorities of the women folk of the village. In one of the villages, Sarkui of Mandvi taluka (an administrative block) of Surat district, the women said that the toilets constructed by government are defunct even though the programme was taken up with 5 households. Hence AKRSP (I) thought of a sustainable model of toilets and integrated this need with its existing biogas programme from the year 2002. 

With a modest beginning of 62 toilets in the year 2002, the programme has provided a private space to about 1522 households. The numbers are increasing day by day with almost all the demands coming for biogas plant with toilet.

This programme is not a stand alone project but a part of a larger programmatic vision for the resource poor. This particular programme integrates two objectives i.e. drudgery reduction of women by giving her option of alternative energy and provides dignity, hygiene and health related issues. It has been achieved by by mobilizing the community through rigorous mass movements like Gram Safai Abhiyan with consultation and partnership of the self-help groups of women with continuous capacity building of these SHG. Other processes involved are by word of mouth, through which the community propagates these programmes in other villages through their friends and relatives. 

The technology of the biogas (Deenabandhu model) with toilet was developed by constructing the toilet on a higher level than the biogas plant and linking it with a plastic pipe of five feet on a pilot in the Sarkui village of Mandvi taluka of Surat district in the year 2002. After the success of this model it was scaled up gradually as more and more women demanded this model. This model is constructed on the homestead land available traditionally in this tribal area known as wada land. The biogas plant with toilet provides two way reliefs to the women, i.e. fulfilling her fuel need and giving her a private space for relieving herself at her convenience. The 2M³ biogas model of uses 25 Kg of dung and 25 litres of water, which comes from the water used in the toilet. The wastage in the form of slurry is collected and kept in a compost pit, which after 3-4 months is used as manure in their fields.

The cost of a biogas plant with toilet at present comes around INR 11500. The price fluctuates with the fluctuation of the price of bricks and cement. The cost of the material and labour comes around INR 9000 and INR 2500 respectively. The government provides a subsidy of INR 5100, which is claimed under different heads including Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) providing INR 500 per toilet.

The process of participation adopted by AKRSP (I) ensures the understanding of the community needs and contribution. The community contributes by contributing labour for digging the pit for the biogas plant and the toilet. They also provide the payment to the mason and material such as asbestos roof and iron door for the toilet. The rest is provided by the European Commission funding the project.

The community is united on one stand that sanitation is one of the major problems in the rural areas even though the government has chipped in many a times. This is one of the major problems faced by the women in the village especially during the monsoons. They say that a secure and private place has become non-existent with the erosion of forest covers. Those who don’t have access to toilet facility have to be accompanied by a male person, the old face the same problem. Now with the construction of these toilets they feel the safety, personal hygiene, privacy attached to one of the most basic needs they never felt before. For some it is like a status symbol as many of their friends and relatives don’t have it. The technology has also become easier as women SHG are also actively involved in the dissemination and implementation of this programme as well as repairing and maintaining it. It has become accessible for the community even though they perceive the cost is a bit on the higher side but they are now fully utilizing it. According to Saralaben and Sharadaben from village Sarkui and Ramilaben of Kavachia it is the basic need which has made this programme a success in their respective villages.

They say that they had never thought that a model could be used for dual purpose as single pit/double pit models have failed in the past. The community has a need which is felt as well as a real, and they feel that although it is an individual need, the government should be flexible in providing the sanitation benefits and not a rigid one which is usually followed. For more details please visit ftp://203.124.149.174/public/wes/cr/res-06081001.doc (DOC, 76KB)

Joseph Plakkoottam, Development Management Network, Pune

The Indo-Dutch VISHWAS (Vizianagarm Initiatives on Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Water Supply) Project was implemented in Andhra Pradesh during 2002-2006. The experience has been well documented. The final report is attached. Please read ftp://203.124.149.174/public/wes/cr/res-06081003.pdf (PDF; Size: 2.3MB) for more details. The project was implemented in a variety of communities and locations - remote tribal habitations, hilly regions, plains and coastal villages.

Communities are managing their water supply schemes through their Manchi Neeti Sanghams. It would be worthwhile to make a systematic impact assessment of this project which was to provide a replicable model for larger water and sanitation initiatives.

Debashish De, Society for Natural Resource Management and Community Development, Ghaziabad

I have responded earlier saying that during an Impact study of Integrated Low Cost Sanitation Scheme of the Ministry of Urban Housing and Poverty Alleviation, I had the opportunity to travel all over India. I have found only Ramagundam city, the third largest city in Telengana Region in the district of Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh, has a very satisfactory system of sustainable sanitation. This city is well known for its NTPC super thermal plant, coal mines and cement factories. One can find large numbers of squatters at the outskirts of the city. It was a big challenge for the Municipal Commissioner. He is a very able person and managed the problem with his own ideas.

Instead offering subsidies for constructing low cost toilets, he asked some contractors to build as many toilets as were required. He gave them orders and the necessary funds for building them. Again, tax collectors from the Municipality were told to go from door to door and motivate the squatters to pay Rs. 1,600 per household and in return, the municipality would provide them a low cost toilet with RCC roofing. The beneficiaries were told they would pay the amount in three installments and he offered them an early-bird discount. Those who paid the full amount in one installment before the due date got a discount of Rs 300 per unit.

In Andhra Pradesh, the woman is the household owner and the toilets were provided in the name of the owner. Most of the women paid the full amount from their own savings and it was a complete success. Even during my discussion with the beneficiaries, some women came and asked if the municipality could still build toilets on their premises if they paid the whole amount.

This is a very promising scenario in the sanitation field where squatters defecate in the open, especially in the industrial areas. This is common in the Sahibabad, Kanpur and Okhla industrial areas.

Many thanks to all who contributed to this query! 

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