A 102-year-old woman, Kuwarbai Yadav in a remote village in Chhattisgarh is in the forerunner of a campaign to build toilets at home, shesold off her goats for Rs 22,000 for building a toilet. The frail figure was also seen moving door to door in Kotabharri village in Dhamtari district, motivating people to achieve open-defecation free zone.
“Life in villages and forests is awash with struggle. I attended a ‘chaupal’ where I came to know about diseases that could spread from open defecation so thought of doing something on my own, hence sold off my goats and told everyone about my plan to construct a toilet,” said Kuwarbai.
Dhamtari administration also joined in the efforts with collector Bheem Singh providing subsidy in toilet construction under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme. By July, Kotabharri village was declared open-defecation free village.
Community leaders Luv kush Dhruv and Bhaghelaram said earlier, villagers didn’t consider defecating in jungles as unhygienic. “It’s a positive achievement that they are constructing toilets to give up the old practice,” they said.
By: Archa Dave
