Imagine if your toilet tank once filled, didn’t need refilling for the next 15 years!
The civil engineering department of IIT Kharagpur has built an award-winning bio-toilet with a giant flush capacity 500 litres of water, which recycles itself for a ‘lifetime’ use!
It is safe to say that this self-sustainable bio-toilet, the prototype of which also won the PM’s Swachh Bharat Award can cater to a family of five without needing refilling for over 15 years!
If this isn’t all, one feather in the cap of this innovation is that this bio-toilet can also help generate electricity using human waste.
The department is now in the process of replicating the model. The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), which is the civil engineering department’s first partner for the ambitious project has asked the innovators to build one such toilet in rural Noida for testing reported the Times of India.
Why is this innovation unique?
The toilet is self-sustainable. This means that it is not dependent on a constant supply of fresh water like its conventional counterparts.
While a conventional toilet uses an average 10-12 litres of fresh water supply per flush, this bio-toilet does not.
The bio-toilet has microbial fuel cell (MFC) reactors which work on the water being used in every flush and completely recycle it.
Once recycled and clean, this water is then sent to a reservoir on top of the toilet, where it is stored for reuse.
The MFC reactors are essentially bio-electrochemical devices that harness the power of respiring microbes to convert organic substrates directly into electrical energy. Therefore the septic tank of the bio-toilet has electrogenic bacteria which generate electricity out of human waste.
According to the TOI report, this bio-electric toilet has a six-chambered reactor which rotates waste water clockwise and anti-clockwise. It uses hypochlorite used in the final cathode chamber to reduce pathogenic contamination.
The six chambers are lined with a membrane that has proton-exchange property. Two PhD students at the department, Bikash Ranjan Tiwari and Md Tabish Noori, have been instrumental in inventing membrane separator, which is almost 11-times cheaper and efficient at treating wastewater as against the conventional Nafion membrane, thereby cutting down the price of the MFC drastically.
Why this bio-toilet is the need of the hour
“You can use this electricity to illuminate the toilet at night. During the day, the electricity can be used to charge mobile phones,” M Ghangrekar, a civil engineering professor who is spearheading the project told TOI.
He expressed how this toilet is ideal for villages which struggle with open-defecation.
“The toilet is ideal for villages, where people still have to go out into the fields to relieve themselves. To meet the sanitation needs of the rural population, the government is funding toilets at home, but the problem is that they are dry and water crisis is a perennial issue. Our toilet solves all these problems,” he added.
The department of science and technology has funded the building of four such bio-toilets on the institute’s campus.
This innovation could go a long way in arid villages where the supply of water is meagre, and the problem of open defecation is jarring.
The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) promised to bring open defecation in India down to zero, and the government had also guaranteed that it would build enough toilets in every village and city to completely eradicate the problem of open defecation.
Many of us will agree that open defecation leads to the proliferation of diseases, and it is thus, advisable, to make India completely open-defecation free.
However, one man working for the Swachh Bharat Mission knows that the subject of open-defecation is not as black and white as it seems. For many, it is a part of their lifestyle, that they cannot change overnight. The problem of maintaining toilets that were built by the authorities also keeps people outside the washroom walls.
Meet Parameswaran Iyer, a former IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer who currently leads the Swachh Bharat Mission for the government.
Parameswaran is an ex- IAS officer you’ll lead our water and sanitation department. Source.
Mr Iyer had worked with World Bank from April 1998 to September 2007 in Hanoi, Vietnam. From 2012 onwards he was the lead water and sanitation specialist for the World Bank and was instrumental in bringing two leading programmes on the ground there.
Before taking up a specialisation in Vietnam, Mr Iyer had also worked in Washington on Egypt and Lebanon and in the Bank’s Water Anchor.
When he realised that he had to accept that many people prefer to defecate in the open rather than in toilets, Mr Iyer brought his experience in Vietnam to practical use. In 2014, he had written about the need for behaviour change before a lifestyle change, on the World Bank’s site.
“The biggest lesson learned so far in Vietnam, and other countries is that eliminating open defecation is not driven by the construction of toilets.
It is driven by changing the behaviour at the community level based on quality, evidence-based interventions. What is also clear is that approaches must be tailored to be the specific context with careful consideration of local factors such as ethnicity,” he wrote.
Mr Iyer’s experience with the World Bank, across several countries, will certainly help India, to go a step further in the cleanliness mission.
This is a rare case of the Indian government appointing an IAS officer working with the World Bank for their initiative, and Mr Iyer has certainly upped the hopes of Indian citizens. He was appointed as Union Secretary for the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in 2017 on a two-year contract basis.
A senior government official told Livemint, “It is clear from the two-year fixed contract, that the government has decided to give him a free hand to steer the programme. It also gives a clear signal that if the government does not get the desired results from the internal talent pool, it will not hesitate in getting them from outside.”
With a combined experience of about two decades in this sector, Parameswaran is sure to be a beaming light of hope for the dream of a clean India!
What if we said you could take your toilet wherever you go? And that all it would take just two hours to build it?
Amused? Don’t be. Because one Swachh Bharat hero from Pune, Maharashtra built such a smart toilet made out of waste thermocol as early as 2007.
Pune-based industrialist Ramdas Mane is the founder of ‘The Mane Group of Industries’ which manufactures thermocol machines and also runs ‘Ready made toilets.’ Till date, Mane has supplied more than 22,000 toilets in more than 17 states across India.
One feather in the cap of this businessman with a golden heart is that he even donated 25 such toilets to newly-married underprivileged women who couldn’t afford buying one.
Humble Beginnings
Growing up, Mane, who hails from the Satara district of the state, was no stranger to the suffering of the women in his own family who faced the embarrassment of having to defecate in the open in the dark of the night or at early dawn.
Speaking to NDTV, he says, “I have grown in a family where there was no toilet culture. I have seen women of my house going out in the open to defecate, I have seen them suffering. This was not just the story of my house, but my entire village.”
Mane journey to success is nothing short of inspirational. He wasn’t born with a silver spoon. From working as a waiter to sweating it out at a construction site, he did it all. But in his heart he knew he wanted to embark on a journey that would help the people around him.
After finishing his Industrial training, he worked as an intern with Mahindra and Mahindra Companies in Pune. All he earned at the time was a stipend of Rs. 100. It was only when he cleared his internal exams successfully that he became a permanent employee in the company.
The year 1994, brought about a major turn in Mane’s life. Trusting his entrepreneurial spirit, he quit his job to begin a business of making thermocol machines. Mane’s company even made it to the Limca Book of records in 2007, for the biggest thermocol machine. It was incidentally the same year, Mane decided to venture into smart toilets.
For those who remember, 2007 was also the year in which the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, started a Swachh Abhiyan in the state. He announced a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh to the first village which would successfully construct toilets in each of its households.
It took Mane’s village nothing less than a year and half to construct 198 toilets. All it needed was two more toilets to claim the prize. The clock was ticking, as they had only eight days to achieve their target.
All the toilets Mane had helped construct in his village back then were made of bricks, cement and tiles and would take several days to finish.
“Making a toilet was a very big deal. We had to get bricks from one place, the door from another, cement from a different place. And it used to take days just construct one toilet. As days were passing and our chances of losing emerged as an eminent reality, I was pressured by my village people and officers. They said, “Sir, you are a big industrialist, why don’t you research more on making a smart toilet that can be made in few days?” Mane recalls in his interview with NDTV.
It was at the time, Mane made two toilets out of thermocol. These toilets served as prototypes for his business ‘Ready made Toilets.’
How are these thermocol toilets made?
Different models of toilets the company supplies. Source: Ready Made Toilets
The innovation works on a simple model. As Mane runs a business of thermocol machines, all waste thermocol is collected and recycled. The end result of this recycling process are differently shaped thermocol components which are used in toilet construction. For e.g. big rectangles to create slabs, small bricks called ‘thermocol sandwich bricks’ for laying walls etc.
Once the entire thermocol structure is put into place as per the required design, it is coated with concrete cement and left to dry. Here it is important to note that while the toilet takes only two hours to build, the cement coating and drying process takes an additional four hours.
If you visit the website, you see the four toilet models that Mane’s company supplies. The basic toilet model costs about Rs. 13,000. This comes in stark contrast to the existing costs required to build a conventional toilet which will cost anywhere between Rs 35,000 to 40,000 a piece.
This 7.3 ft x 4ft model is a low cost portable and executive toilet which you can install and use within two hours. It is can also be moved from one place of another place as per your convenience. Apart from saving construction time, it has the capacity to carry a 300 litre water tank.
The construction time for this basic model is two hours, and that is without any plumbing facilities. This model therefore, is useful in rural areas where many people carry water buckets to the toilets. It is extremely useful for laborers on construction sites too.
The price range for the other models keeps increasing as they come additional facilities, for eg. one model with tiles costs Rs. 15,000, another with European seating and a wash basin costs Rs. 22,000 and the last one which is a light-weight portable toilet costs about Rs. 35,000.
While the basic construction for other models also require two hours, additional facilities like using tiles, adding a flush tank, wash basin, or setting up water facility takes additional time. Each toilet requires an average of three people for set up.
What once started as an experiment with scrap thermocol and an idea to merely help his village win the Swachh Abhiyan has today transformed into a successful company with an annual turnover of Rs. 40 crore with 70 employees.
Needless to say, the man behind the innovation has been felicitated with a host of awards by different organisations and governments, not just in India, but abroad too.
“Every individual can contribute towards a swachh nation cause like I am. It is simply about the efforts and innovations,” says the innovator.
With India’s urban population all set to touch 600 million in the next 15 years, it is imperative that our cities develop the necessary infrastructure for their residents. A critical component of urban infrastructure is its sewage system.
However, more than 70% of urban India’s sewage goes untreated, and our cities dump nearly 40 billion litres of untreated sewage into water bodies every year. The discharge of untreated sewage, especially into our water bodies, has a nasty effect on our health and environment.
What is particularly of great concern is that most of our cities are not bound by a complete sewage network. Even cities that have a partial sewage network do not have the requisite treatment plants, which defeats the very purpose of having a sewage system.
Policy advocates have argued that this is because massive centralised treatment plants require high capital investment to build pipelines, pumping stations and treatment plants.
Besides the cost of constructing and operating them, these sewage networks require extensive digging and can take anywhere between 3-10 years to implement. Most existing sewage treatment plants do not function at optimum levels and fail to meet basic environmental standards for treating wastewater discharge.
Making matters worse is that when cities expand, it is difficult to expand the reach of a massive centralised system especially in peri-urban areas which often receive patchy service. There are also questions of constructing pipelines amidst land ownership and topographical concerns. Finally, there is the issue of regular power supply, required by these centralised systems.
Recent developments in Devanahalli, a town 40 km from Bengaluru, offers us hope that our urban centres can effectively address issues concerning sewage treatment. What the town witnessed was a collaborative effort by the local Town Municipal Corporation (TMC), the Consortium for DEWATS Dissemination (CDD) Society (a Bengaluru-based non-profit working on effective management of wastewater and faecal sludge), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and tech giants Oracle India.
In November 2015, in partnership with TMC and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, CDD Society commissioned India’s first city-wide and dedicated faecal sludge treatment plant (FSTP) at Devanahalli. This FSTP has helped the town of just 30,000 people to move towards an open defection free environment.
At this moment, Devanahalli is an ODF+ town with all residents having access to a toilet, besides possessing the facility to regularly and safely collect, transport and treat all faecal matter. A large part of this effort is thanks to the tech giant Oracle India.
Different categories of ODF urban centres.
“Before setting up the FSTP at Devanahalli, we set up a pilot at our office campus. Faecal sludge characteristics vary greatly based on weather, containment system, desludging, frequency etc. So, at this pilot plant, we tested the technology before setting it up townscale at Devanahalli,” said a spokesperson for CDD Society, speaking to The Better India.
The technology was designed based on inputs from engineers at CDD and its partner, the Bremen Overseas Research and Development Agency (BORDA).
For the past 15 years, engineers from both organisations have gained vast experience working on the treatment of wastewater, primarily through Decentralised Waste Water Treatment Systems (DEWATS).
How does this FSTP work?
“Faecal sludge is collected in desludging vehicles (aka honeysuckers). These desludging vehicles bring the faecal sludge to the treatment plant. The solid stream goes into anaerobic digestion and biogas is produced. It is then further treated and stabilised in anaerobic reactors.
Finally, it is dried in a drying bed and ready for co-composting, where it is mixed with organic municipal waste and co-composted into useful soil manure or compost for farmers. This cycle balances the nutrient requirements of the soil that’s depleted through agriculture and overuse,” says Sasanka Velidandla, CEO of CDD Society.
The entire plant runs on gravity. It doesn’t use any electricity for its operations. Not only has it proven to be effective and cheap, but it also does not leave behind a significant carbon footprint. Moreover, it’s close to the source of faecal sludge.
Watch the video below to understand how the entire process works:
There are seven critical stages that this project has undergone.
1) It first conducted a study of the sanitation system in the town, i.e., how much faecal sludge did Devanahalli generate? Without any definitive answers, CDD Society and the TMC first conducted a survey.
Questions like the number of toilets, pits and septic tanks, whom to call for the desludging process and how often, were answered.
Over 15% of households in Devanahalli lack toilets; nearly two-thirds of households without toilets (600-700) engage in open defecation; for households without toilets, the main reason for not constructing one is lack of funds, with lack of space another obstacle; and approximately 7% of households (400-500) have toilets connected to an open drain (insanitary latrines).
After surveying the town, the team learnt three key things—households desludge after long intervals which makes the entire process a lot harder, while private desludging operators travel long distances before emptying their tanker/truck. However, the biggest issue here is the lack of a proper sewage disposal point. These private operators were found dumping untreated faecal sludge into water bodies and empty farmlands.
2) In consonance with Step 1, what CDD Society did was to work closely with the TMC. In fact, when CDD Society first shortlisted four towns for their FSTP project, it was officials from Devanahalli that showed great enthusiasm for the proposal in 2014.
“CDD Society came to Devanahalli and spoke to corporators from 23 wards about the plant. When we went into town to speak to people about the plant, they initially protested that it would be dirty. That is when CDD Society and corporators went door to door convincing the people of its benefits and ensuring that we had the necessary support to get the FSM resolutions passed,” says Narasimha Murthy, TMC President.
Local municipal officials inspecting the FSTP. (Source: Twitter/CDD Society)
Besides workshops for these corporators on CDD Society’s FSM model, private desludging operators also underwent training about the use of septic tanks.
3) The next obvious step was to identify the site for this plant and acquire the land for it. It had to be near the source of faecal sludge, thus reducing transport time.
An erstwhile waste dumping site off the national highway running through the town was chosen. However, acquiring the land included seeking a whole host of approvals from organs of the state—from the pollution control board to planning and zoning authorities, among others.
After acquiring all approvals, in consonance with local authorities, land was cleared and levelled .
4) One of the fundamental aspects of any such project is to establish the regulatory framework for sustained faecal management operations.
The TMC passed four critical resolutions in this regard— “proper regulation of the containment systems that are going to be built for new houses; licensing and regulation of private operators working in the town for desludging; outsourcing the operations of the treatment plant to private operators; and raising property taxes to support the cost of the treatment plant,” says Velidandla.
5) To ensure practical implementation of policy, the team suggests:
“Calls coming in from households can be routed to a call centre. GPS devices and cameras can be placed on the trucks to monitor their desludging and disposal. This, in the long run, can also lead to regular desludging. The treatment plant can be monitored for input and output parameters, so it meets standards,” adds Velidandla.
6) Establishing a sustainable and low-cost model is critical. The total capital cost of this FSTP was Rs 70 lakh (Rs 300 per capita) with an operating cost of Rs 6 lakh per year. Most municipalities in India can afford it. Typically, the initial cost of a large centralised sewage system is in the range of Rs. 14,000-25,000 per citizen in a city.
Additionally, operating these systems can cost Rs. 3,000-5,000 per person per year for continuous power, skilled operators, chemicals etc.
A 2015 Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report says that only 64% of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) are working. In this case, the operating costs are low and take just a year to construct. The capital expenditure required for FSM lies in the range of Rs 500-Rs 2,000 per capita.
There is only one operator at the plant. The whole plant runs on gravity. It doesn’t use any electricity for operation and hence is effective, cheap and arrests pollution quickly, says CDD Society.
A private operator extracting feacal sludge from the septic tank before taking it away to the FSTP. (Source: YouTube)
“We are raising money through selling manure, through advertisements, through property tax, and also through collecting fees for desludging,” says another senior town official.
7) Community engagement: Farmers today are seemingly reaping the benefits of using faecal sludge compost. “Initially we used to receive fertiliser from the government but using it was a big problem. It used to smell very bad, and the labourers were reluctant to work with it. When we started using it, even our labourers started working better. Now the yield is excellent, we are getting double the crop,” says Babu, a farmer.
With the FSTP up and running, in April 2017, CDD Society also got involved in the process of constructing toilets for the town of Devanahalli, which the TMC was already actively involved in through the Swachh Bharat Mission.
“We hired a local contractor to construct toilets; and a local non-profit SNEHA to conduct street plays in Kannada as part of information, education and communication (IEC) efforts to spread awareness about the plant, the importance of desludging and to motivate community members to construct and use toilets properly so that they stop practicing open defecation,” said Tarika Vaswani, a communications expert with CDD Society. They also worked with women’s self-help groups trying to build awareness around how to use a toilet.
What about the cost of building toilets?
In order to construct an individual household toilet, at least Rs. 15,000-20,000 is required. Most of the funds to build the 350-450 toilets that Devanahalli needed to go ODF came from the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission. To bridge the toilet gap, CDD Society reached out to tech giants Oracle India, who not only delivered the funds from their CSR kitty but also sent company volunteers, especially those who can speak the local vernacular, to help with the IEC campaigns.
Spreading awareness about better sanitation practices. (Source: CDD Society)
“On one occasion, we had volunteers from Oracle spend an evening at Devanahalli helping with IEC activities. This involved airing a video as well as conducting a street play dedicated to spreading awareness about toilet use. Volunteers, who spoke Kannada, interacted with the locals, going door-to-door and calling them for the street play and video show. They also communicated the importance of desludging, and helped them apply for funds to construct toilets,” says Tarika.
Speaking to The Better India, Rajendra Tripathi, Senior Manager, Oracle Corporate Citizenship – India, talked about what attracted the tech giant to this project.
“We found the project, dedicated to the effective management of wastewater and faecal sludge of an entire township, very compelling. The project focuses on an urgent necessity at a time of growing urbanisation,” says Rajendra. The company intervened at a critical juncture, when the toilet building exercise was in need of an urgent injection of funds.
Why was it such a compelling project for the company?
“One single project offered us an opportunity to bring together the aspect of environmental protection and community outreach of our corporate citizenship policy. We had a chance to not only collaborate with non-profits, but also actively participate in serving society.
Open defection free missions aren’t part of our core business interests, but what it does is help us showcase our company’s citizenship values to our employees and in the process help them better engage with Oracle and society at large. This is seemingly a win-win situation for all stakeholders—governments, non-profits and corporations.” adds Rajendra.
This sort of collaborative effort between non-profits, multinationals, local government, big government and the citizens is what allowed Devanahalli to attain ODF+ status.
Having said that, CDD and Oracle are still working in the town to construct more toilets. Earlier this month, the multinational approved another grant of Rs. 38.4 lakhs to take the sanitation project further. The aim for Devanahalli is to attain ODF++ status.
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India’s youth can be instrumental when it comes to implementing schemes on the ground. They have the energy and passion for learning new information, and in most cases, their enthusiasm is also fuelled by a strong sense of patriotism, and the need to better the conditions in the country.
It is equally essential for these youngsters to step out of their comfort zone, explore new environments and take up some social responsibility.
By opening up opportunities for a new internship programme dedicated to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan started by the Central Government in 2014, the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) has devised the perfect way to channel this energy and social responsibility.
The internship promises great incentives to the students who undertake it. Here are all the details you need to know:
1. Students are required to apply for this internship by completing the application form online. They can request the authorities of their respective colleges to guide them.
2. The students need to undertake work in one or more villages in either their home state or the state where the parent institute is located. Candidates can make this decision with the help of their institution.
3. The volunteer work must be some form of activity undertaken by an individual or a group that focuses on sanitation. Candidates have to complete 100 hours in this work to be eligible for the incentives given by SPPU.
4. SPPU promises up to two credits for the entirety of work conducted in rural areas. Dr Muktaja Matkari, the principal of the Abasaheb Garware College of Arts and Science, told Pune Mirror, “The inclusion of such programmes in the syllabus will help students address existing social issues more seriously and gain experiential learning. We are awaiting guidelines from the varsity on how to work the credit system.”
5. In addition to credits, the university is also planning on giving out cash rewards for the best project at various stages—Rs 20,000 at the college level, and Rs 2 lakh at the national level.
6. The responsibilities of each candidate include the following:
a) Spreading awareness about sanitation and hygiene in rural areas and carrying out relevant activities.
b) The hours of work have to be reported, and once they reach the end of their internship, they have to draft a report.
c) This report needs to be submitted to and will be evaluated by the government.
Dr RS Zunjarrao, the principal of Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce said, “I believe education should be divided into a 20 and 80 percent ratio—wherein the latter is geared towards bettering career prospects, but the former is about social responsibilities. Such initiatives can definitely help students become better citizens.”
Noor Nehar Begum who hails from the Bengali-speaking Muslim migrant community from Bhulukabari Pathar village in Assam’s Barpeta district is an independent woman. For the 1.5 years, she has been contributing to her family’s financial needs by working as a female mason. In the process, she has broken the notion that the women should stay at home to raise children and be dependent on the man.
Like Begum, scores of women from her community in Barpeta district have been working with fellow female masons from the Assamese, Bengali, Hindu and Bodo communities side-by-side, constructing toilets, and fostering a rare kind of social mobilisation, unity and female empowerment.
Begum shares, “Before working as a female mason, I had no money, and my husband used to overlook me. I couldn’t pay the tuition fees for my two sons. Now, I contribute financially to my family. There is respect for me in the house and the village. I have challenged the social convention norms that keep women constricted and tied to a particular role. When I was learning masonry, many men in the village asked my husband why I was doing a man’s job. Now, they don’t dare to tell me anything. I work with female masons from different communities and there is greater understanding between us. I am also learning Assamese now.”
The female masons started with a total number of 10 which increases to 22. In a short span of time, the number of female masons in Barpeta snowballed to 322.
Their work was appreciated, and the demand for their work increased. They braved chauvinism and challenging social barriers, across seven villages in and around Barpeta district.
The women braved chauvinism and proved that could bring about a change.
Arpana Adhikary, the district water/sanitation consultant, conceptualised the idea of roping in female masons for the task at hand. She says, “The entire concept began in 2014 when the Swacch Bharat Mission was rolled in. We came to realise that male masons were not enthusiastic about doing quality work. I decided to rope in female wage earners as masons. Training was imparted to them, and soon they embarked on their mission.”
Through masonry, these women discovered financial independence. Once illiterate, the female masons now take orders, plan the design, implement and cut bank cheques.
“They are in demand for their expertise in masonry. They are much better than their male counterparts. They know intricate details, and their approach and perception towards building toilets is positive as they craft ideas which they implement,” added Adhikary.
Barpeta’s female masons were more skilled than their male counterparts.
Jalkara Village: Last December, a group of 112 village women from a nondescript, minority-dominated and low-lying Jalkara village in Barpeta district, began to seek training in masonry. They learnt about the female masons in the district and concerned about the pathetic sanitation conditions in their village, they decided to build toilets in their village.
With 369 households, Jalkara village comes under Paschim Paka Gaon Panchayat (GP), which remains inundated for the most of the year. Till December of 2017, there were only 17 households with pucca toilets, but the female masons constructed pucca toilets for 106 households.
“In Jalkara, most of the men work outside the state as labourers. Open defecation is widely prevalent. During floods, sanitation is nil. Villagers here use kuchha toilets or resort to open defecation,” explains Adhikary.
The women then approached a team of female masons from Dakhin Pachim Bedbari which is another gaon panchayat. The team from this gaon panchayat (GP) had built hundreds of pucca toilets.
“It all started when some of the women from Jalkara came to our gaon panchayat. They met some of the female masons here and the word about their work spread. Jalkara is dry for three months and inundated for the rest of the year. It is so remote and low-lying that NGOs prefer to stay away from it,” said Adhikary.
There are now four self-help groups operating in the district which are solely dedicated to building and constructing toilets and creating awareness about cleanliness. The female masons also use technology in figuring out GPS coordinates during construction.
“After the construction of toilets, I have seen that stomach-related ailments have dropped in my village. As a mother and a wife, I now feel relieved,” shares Begum.
Through self-help groups, the women transformed the status of health and sanitation in their villages.
This is not all there is to the matter.
A two-day training was held in March for women in Dhakua Gaon who were interested in female masonry. Training was imparted on pit-digging and other toilet-constructing technicalities.
Dhakua Gaon: “I was surprised to see how the women in that village began to develop these skills in a short span of time. Training was given under the leadership of a master mason. Training was held from March 25 to 27. Since then, with the help of experienced masons, the female masons from Dhakua village have built close to 30 toilets,” notes Adhikary.
Under SBM, the government shells out Rs 12,000 for building a single pucca toilet unit.
The female masons, in the same manner, managed to save Rs 18,36,000 by motivating 153 households in Balarvitha to spend a portion of their income in building toilets instead of depending on the government.
The women constructed 1,423 toilets across 11 villages in Assam’s Barpeta district.
According to the District Water Sanitation Department, these female masons work across 11 villages in the district, covering five gaon panchayats, constructing 1,423 toilets. They also engage in village cleanliness programmes, orientation of school students, school cleanliness and plantation of trees.
Besides exemplifying female empowerment with their quality masonry work, these women have also saved lakhs of rupees of the state’s exchequer by motivating rural households with a decent income to build toilets.
(Written by Gaurav Das and Edited by Shruti Singhal)
We often take physically challenged people as somehow inferior, though there are unsung heroes around us who defy this myth. These people prove, time and again, that where there is a will, there is a way.
A case in point is Bihar’s 50-year-old visually impaired Musaharu Ram. He lives in the Rajeshwar Poorvi village in Supaul district. This hamlet is 300 km away from the state capital, Patna, with the district headquarters being at least 70 km away.
Musaharu Ram is a hero for the 7,000 inhabitants of this village. A local folk singer, he lost his eyesight due to glaucoma at the age of 22. He supports his three daughters and one son through singing and taking alms.
Bihar’s Sanitation Champion Musaharu Ram.
He says, “When people first came to talk about the toilet, I understood how important it was. Open defecation becomes very problematic during the rains. Our whole hamlet used to submerge.”
He adds, “Life went on like that, but I thought there should be at least a toilet for my daughters, considering their prestige and honour. And so I decided to build a toilet.”
Sarpanch Laxmi, says, “It all started five months ago when toilet construction started in the village under the Swachh Bharat Mission. Almost all villages built toilets. Our challenge was Tamua Tola, where mahadalits lived. Musaharu Ram proved to be a good motivator.”
After the construction of the toilet, Musaharu started to motivate the villagers of the hamlet for the sake of their children. Government officials rewarded him for his advocative work.
“I can’t see, but I feel the honour and respect given to me for this noble cause,” says Musaharu Ram.
Musaharu supports his family through singing and taking alms.
Supaul’s Zilla Swachh Bharat motivator Abhishek Mali notes that recent statistics show a marked improvement with one lakh toilets built in the district, with nearly 20,000 toilets built from 1st April to 10th April, 2018. The district earlier stood at the 38th spot in Bihar, but it now stands at the 27th spot.
“There is evidence to suggest that water sanitation and hygiene practices are associated with child growth. Open defecation is also directly linked with stunting and malnutrition in children,” observes Rajeev Kumar, WASH Officer, UNICEF, Bihar.
He further notes that a toilet is not a status symbol but a basic daily requirement. If poor families could build an inexpensive two-pit toilet, then not only would they save themselves and their children from deadly diseases, but also produce manure from faeces which is a good fertiliser.
The inexpensive two-pit toilet that Musaharu built for his family.
Visually-challenged Musaharu Ram is an example for the people who wait for government intervention. Proponents of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan also cite his example to other families to motivate them. Supaul’s DM has also felicitated him for his inspiring work.
Sharing the achievement of the sanitation hero, District Development Commissioner of Supaul, Naveen Chaudhary, concludes, “People like Musaharu Ram are the real face of our sanitation campaign ‘Chikan Chunmum Supaul’. I believe that if he can make toilets, the last person of Supaul too can construct and use toilets.”
(Written by Avinash Ujjwal and Edited by Shruti Singhal)
My answer would be someone who puts the needs of others before their own and works relentlessly to make others’ lives a little better.
In that vein, let me introduce you to a hero – 45-year-old Manilal Rana from Savaniya of Banswada district in Rajasthan.
In 35 days, Manilal and his team of helpers have built 780 toilets in their village. It was not just the construction of these toilets that made him a hero but his patience and perseverance in persuading the villagers, who seemed to be against it.
While some days were difficult, Manilal kept going because of the support he got from some locals and the District Collector.
Screenshot from Twitter
It was during his trips to cities like Ahmedabad and Mumbai that Manilal discovered that toilets were a given in most households as opposed to his village where it was a regular practice to head to an open space, with a lota (brass pot with water) in their hands each morning.
This sparked a thought in his mind, and he decided to find a way to make his village free from open defecation.
In a report published by NDTV SwachhIndia, Manilal speaks about the general mindset of the people in his village and says, “Our forefathers have been defecating in the open, why should we do things any differently? The villagers would also oppose the concept of having a toilet inside the premises of their house stating, ‘We cannot have a kitchen and toilet together.’”
So Manilal and his team of youth volunteers started spreading the message of toilets and the harms of open defecation to the lives of the villagers.
They explained how it could lead to the spread of various diseases.
Slowly and steadily, they started seeing a change in the attitude of the villagers. The idea was so well received that there have come to be watch committees that patrol the open fields, dissuading people from open defecation.
A lot of credit goes to this man who took it upon himself to bring about this change. Do watch this video, which encapsulates the work he has done for his village.
It was not easy for Manilal Rana of the Banswada district, #Rajasthan to drive behaviour change across communities. Using innovative techniques to make people realise the importance of #Swachhata did the trick. We salute him for his dedicated service. #SBMpic.twitter.com/UFT5wEr7Cd
To commemorate his work, he was honoured by Prime Minister Modi at the concluding ceremony of #ChaloChamparan on April 10. The initiative marked the centenary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi’s Champaran Satyagraha and kickstarted the final leg of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
As four years of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) come to an end, it is time to reflect and take stock of how far we have come and what lies ahead.
As per the latest government figures, the overall sanitation coverage in India has now risen to more than 90% (SBM, 2018). However, the data also shows that the physical construction of a toilet does not guarantee its usage or a change in sanitation practices.
There are enough instances that show toilets constructed under SBM (G) are being used to store firewood or even as a cattle shed. It is also not uncommon for beneficiaries of SBM (G) to use toilets only at night or during the monsoons due to the misbelief that using it often would fill up the pit soon. Many men continue to resort to open defecation as they believe toilets are meant to be used only by women and children.
The journey of the Swachh Bharat Mission has brought forth many stories and lessons in sanitation that need to be recognised and taken forward.
The intervention of the Public Affairs Centre
In a recently completed project on ‘Improving Consumer Voices in Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin)’, Public Affairs Centre (a leading think-tank based in Bengaluru) used its repertoire of social accountability tools to assess the experience of the beneficiaries from different aspects of the programme (selection, application, toilet construction, receipt of subsidy amount, usage) in Tamil Nadu.
The project deployed Community Score Cards (CSC)–a citizen-centric accountability tool for the assessment, planning, monitoring and evaluation of service delivery.
The CSC was used to gather feedback from communities of users and service implementers to improve communication between them, as scores on various indicators. The idea was to form Joint Action Committees (JAC), comprising beneficiaries and service providers that implemented mutually agreed upon Joint Action Plans (JAP), ensuring the smooth implementation of SBM in the six districts of Tamil Nadu (Dharmapuri, Kanyakumari, Krishnagiri, Perambalur, Tirunelveli and Tiruchirappalli).
Role of Women and the Importance of Community Participation
In the six districts, the main reason cited for the construction of toilets by more than 70% beneficiaries of SBM was to ensure the safety of women (Citizen Report Card Survey, PAC). During our interaction with district-level officials, nearly 60% of them reported that women helped in creating the demand and awareness for a toilet in the community.
The role of ‘Swachhata Doots’ as grassroots sanitation ambassadors to take forth the message on the importance of toilet construction and hygienic sanitation practices is also well acknowledged in the SBM policy.
During the project and fieldwork, the PAC research team realised that these districts already had an active base of foot soldiers – Village Poverty Reduction Committee (VPRC), Panchayat Level Federation (PLF) and Self Help Groups (SHG) – dominated by nearly 800 women in the study areas.
Further, it was found that the interest of these women could be leveraged to proceed with the planned intervention.
Thus, identifying these women as change agents, PAC undertook the following activities:
Screened films and documentaries on different aspects of sanitation (the ill effects of open defecation and hygiene practices).
Conducted group discussions for VPRC, SHG and PLF members and district officials on learnings, problems and resolutions w.r.t implementation of SBM.
Developed and distributed IEC material with a specific focus on the disadvantages of open defecation, the technical aspects of toilet construction and faecal sludge management among VPRC, SHG and PLF members.
Trained VPRC, PLF and SHG members in every village to work closely with every household to ensure the community achieves and sustains its OPF status.
Such targeted interventions helped build capacities among these ‘sanitation ambassadors’, and they became our foot soldiers of change. They used their network to influence households to construct and use toilets within their communities.
Today, women in these groups have taken it upon themselves to spread the message of sanitation. They speak about the hazards of open defecation and convince households to construct and use toilets.
The villages where this intervention was made saw a significant increase in the demand for toilets as well as increased usage. Twelve of these villages have been declared open defecation free.
In Billanakupam Gram Panchayat alone, the number of toilets increased from 335 to 855 after the involvement of the women.
In Maharashtra, women who raised their voice against open defecation and highlighted their sanitation needs were named ‘Swachhata Doots’.
Even states such as Uttar Pradesh which had very high levels of open defecation, to begin with, have recognised the role women can play as ambassadors of sanitation. In the recently organised ‘Swachh Shakti’ Convention where 8,000 Women Sarpanches, 3,000 Women Swachhagrahis, 2,000 Mahila Samakhyas from the state were invited for their outstanding contribution towards open defecation free India.
In a recent event, even Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the contribution of India’s Nari Shakti (women power) in the Swachh Bharat Mission was immense.
As we celebrate Gandhi’s 149th birth anniversary this year and are just one year short of marking the ODF target of 2019, it is imperative to recollect what he said about the role women can play in any form of social progress. Gandhiji envisaged an important role for women vis-a-vis the power structure in society and the foundations of an equitable and non-violent social order.
Thus, an important lesson to ensure the last mile delivery of the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ and the transformation of sanitation practices (from open defecation to toilet usage) is to recognise and leverage women-led groups and institutions within the communities.
(Edited by Shruti Singhal)
About the author: Sukanya Bhaumik is a Senior Programme Officer with the Public Affairs Centre, a not-for-profit think-tank committed to good governance.
IAS officer Ayush Prasad, the Deputy Collector of Khed Taluka in Pune, had a persistent problem in the villages under his jurisdiction. Many villagers were not using the toilets built by the government; they preferred defecating in the open.
When some people did use the proper toilets, their pits would fill up, but there was no one to empty them. All the night soil collected in the pits would just go to waste even as it contained a high nutritional value.
It would have been a difficult task to approach these three problems separately. The issues were recurring and tackling them one at a time would demand triple the effort.
So, Prasad came up with a single solution to end all three issues–to empower the villagers with a regular income using toilet waste!
Speaking to Pune Mirror, the IAS officer said, “In some rural areas, there is an inertia towards using toilets.
Though the government has been funding their construction for years, some villagers still prefer going out in the open.
Moreover, with a ban on manual scavenging, getting toilets pits emptied is a task”
The project wouldn’t be successful unless the night soil was tested for its nutritional value, so Prasad approached the Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research (DOGR) earlier this year to test the collected night soil.
By May, the researchers came back with positive results. Not only was the night soil able to grow onions fit for consumption, but it also gave nine per cent more yield than chemical fertilisers and 47% more yield than organic manure!
Prasad added, “I realised that if we promoted the concept of commercially exploiting night soil, locals could be motivated to use toilets so that their pits would fill faster. Also, once the pits filled to the brim are left unused for a few months, clearing them does not fall under scavenging.”
With the success of these tests, the next challenge was to convince the villagers to clear their toilets. For this, he took the help of IAS officers Indira Aswar and Sonali Avchat.
Aswar is the Block Development Officer, and the head of the Maharashtra State Rural Livelihoods Mission (MSRLM) and Avchat is the block co-ordinator of MSRLM.
The civil servants had to convince villagers to shed their inhibitions and start cleaning the pits so they could earn a living. Avchat shares, “The women were keen to earn a living, but the idea of handling human waste was a major mental block. This is where we took them to some toilet pits which had been lying unused and filled to the brim. We showed them that what lay inside was nothing but a tea powder-like substance. We also emptied the pits with our own hands to help build confidence.”
Durga Nangre, the head of the self-help group working on the project that Prasad started says that there was internal opposition in the beginning. She says, “A lot of women felt that clearing toilets is a job for scavengers, not farmers. There were concerns about hygiene. But, over time, the government officials visiting us addressed all of them.”
The pits are not supposed to be cleared out for several months, one misconception that led to the reservations of the villagers.
Rather, each toilet has two pits, and when one of them fills up, it can be closed with a lid, while the other is to be used.
In the few months that it takes for the second pit to fill up, the components of the first pit have transformed from wet waste to night-soil of tea-powder consistency. Prasad arranged for this night soil from the villages to be bought by multi-national corporations like Mahindra & Mahindra.
With the MNCs demanding a substantial quantity of night soil for their gardens in Pune city, self-help groups in the villages engage in business. Each pit gives about 80 kg of night soil and is sold at Rs 20 per kilo.
“Our first order of 5,000 kg worth Rs 1 lakh from Mahindra & Mahindra has given us a boost, and all the groups are energised,” says Prasad.
Since the night soil is helping villagers earn a good amount of money, they now prefer using the toilet pits rather than defecating in the open. After observing the IAS officers, they also shed their inhibitions, and now their waste earns them lakhs!
IAS Officer Ayush Prasad is certainly showing how innovative thinking can lead to development and empowerment!
Even though the Parliament enacted a law prohibiting manual scavenging nearly 25 years ago, this patently illegal practice (and a vile form of caste discrimination) continues to thrive in many cities, resulting in many excruciating deaths.
However, on World Toilet Day earlier this week, Sulabh International, a noted social service organisation famous for its work in environmental sanitation, unveiled the purchase of India’s “first sewage cleaning machine” which it hopes will end the practice of manual scavenging.
Developed by Pune-based firm Kam-Avida, this “jet-cum-rodding-cum-mechanical manhole desilting machine” called the “Hope Machine” will cost Rs 43 lakh per piece. According to InUth, this machine “works by injecting high pressure into the tunnels and tanks, and collects the waste with a mechanical bucket operated from ground level”.
‘Hope Machine’ (Source: Sulabh International Social Service Organisation)
The report goes onto state “it can de-choke sewer lines with steel rods that can bend, generates high-resolution images through a remote-controlled inspection camera and uses hydraulics to operate its systems.”
The product also comes with a “gas-detecting device” and protective gear. Speaking to the Times of India, Anupam Sukhija of Kam-Avida said, “Each unit is capable of executing diverse functions, including jetting through a high-pressure pump, desilting using the hydraulics-operated grabber (a hand-like attachment) and rodding using a detachable mini machine that runs on electric power.” Instead of bamboo sticks that manual scavengers use, this rodding unit will now do the job.
Ensuring that these machines can operate along small and narrow lanes, the manufacturers have developed one which is merely six feet in width. Speaking to the national publication, Kam-Avida has initially promised to the offer “a three-day training program” for sanitation workers in Delhi. Reports say one person has died every five days cleaning sewers and septic tanks across the country. A black mark that must be erased!
With this machine, the authorities hope to end this vicious practice. The Delhi Jal Board has placed an order for 200 such “Hope Machines,” although red-tape is reportedly delaying the process. However, they have promised to put 80 such machines to work by the end of the year.
(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)
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To solve India’s sanitation crisis, we need innovative solutions that are cost-effective and feasible for last-mile connectivity.
It was in 1986 when the Indian government launched the Central Rural Sanitation Programme—the first nationwide programme to improve the quality of life of citizens.
32 years down the line, while things have indeed changed radically with initiatives under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan aggressively penetrating the rural sectors of the country in the last five years, India continues to fight one of its stickiest stigmas—Open Defecation.
If there are toilets in place, then there are issues of their usage, maintenance and most importantly, the availability of water and functional sewerage systems.
But imagine a solution that requires none of these and also keeps away the stench!
Tiger Toilets is an example of sustainable ingenuity at its best.
Founded in 2015, these unique toilets are popping up outside homes and schools around the country with over 4,000 units in place.
Tiger worms or Eisenia fetida, are organisms that naturally breed on different types of faeces. Source: Bear Valley Ventures.
What’s so special about these?
Linked to no sewer systems or traditional flushing mechanisms, these toilets are modelled to look like any other pit latrines, but have biological agents to work the deed—tiger worms!
Tiger worms or Eisenia fetida are organisms that naturally breed on different types of faeces, including cow and horse dung.
The toilets have in-built compartments housing these worms that break down human waste efficiently, with a result comprising of a mixture of water, carbon dioxide, and a small quantity of “wormy compost”.
“These worms, they won’t escape on their own, because they won’t survive in just soil. They need our human waste to live,” Ajeet Oak, Director, Tiger Toilet, told Business Insider.
A typical unit costs about ₹25,000 to install and requires no connection to drainage pipes or a mainline sewer.
Once a person is done attending to nature’s call, they merely need to send their waste down to the worm-filled compartment with a little bucket of water.
The worms take care of everything after that—leaving behind no stench or breeding any mosquitoes or flies!
Removing 99 per cent of the pathogens, and leaving behind about 15 per cent of the original waste, Tiger Toilets kill two birds with one stone—that of sanitation as well as waste management.
The by-product, which is about 60-70 per cent water, acts as “an excellent fertiliser” for plants.
While the processed water isn’t fit enough for consumption, it can be released into the ground to be filtered naturally, without the need for wastewater treatment plants.
According to the company, these toilets need maintenance activities only once in eight or ten years, where the worm bin, which isn’t visible to toilet users, must be emptied.
School kids and their tiger toilet in the village of Adachiwadi in Pune district. Courtesy: Rahul Aluri.
“It’s not a terrible job – you don’t have to handle sludge. Simply remove the lid of the toilet, exposing the top layer of worm castings–their leftovers from years of hard work. Then shovel it out and use it in a garden as fertiliser. Then the worm population will be ready to work again,” explained Oak.
For initial testing across India, Myanmar and Uganda, Tiger Toilets had received ₹1.2 crore from USAID. And their efforts to make this technology reach the people who need it the most are finally being answered.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently awarded a grant of ₹34 crore to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to perfect this technology.
In a country that continues to have a high infant mortality rate owing to diarrhoeal diseases, these toilets project a great potential. While the dream of making India ODF is indeed a prerogative, providing a better quality of life to her citizens must begin with equitable access to sanitation.
To know more about Tiger Toilets, look up their website.
When you relish an orange, what do you do with the peels?
Throw them in the dustbin, right?
But what if we told you that these peels are changing the face of community toilets in Jamshedpur?
Thanks to a low-cost innovative solution developed by alumnae from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Dhanbad.
Saurabh Kumar, Founder of Towaso.
Stinky toilets & fruit waste dumping grounds
A total of 58 community and public toilets in the steel city suffered the common issues of most toilets–unbearable stink. This led the city to resort to chemical cleaning agents.
Besides, the urban local body, Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (NNAC), was concerned about the area turning into a dumping spot where several fruit juice vendors would dump food waste.
The use of strong chemicals kept the toilets and the tiles clean, but it also helped reduce the bacterial growth in the septic tank or faecal sludge treatment facility.
This was a drawback since these microbes are crucial in the process of degradation of the faecal sludge.
And so, there was the jarring need for an eco-friendly solution that would not only keep the area clean but also keep the toilets clean and shiny, while not killing the important microbes.
This pushed the JNAC to brainstorm a solution with city-based start-up ToWaSo (which stands for TOWArds SOlution).
Founded by IIT (earlier known as Indian School of Mines) alumnus, Saurabh Kumar three years ago, ToWaSo works with municipalities under the Swachh Bharat Mission, as well as companies and residential complexes to develop and execute waste management solutions.
Saurabh adds how heeding the request of the committee, his team decided to kill two birds with one stone–harness the acetic acid content of the citrus fruit waste and develop a bio-toilet cleaning solution.
100 per cent chemical-free and eco-friendly, it is made from the waste of citrus fruits like orange, lime and lemon.
Fruit waste collected in drums
How did they do it?
The idea of turning waste into resources first came to Saurabh over three years ago. This was also the incident that inspired him to establish ToWaSo.
“I was a juice centre when I saw how the shopkeeper discarded the fruit waste, and a cow ate it. What the shopkeeper considered waste was a resource and source of food for the cow. And that was the point where I decided that I wanted to establish a start-up that would not only help minimise waste but also turn it into a resource,” Saurabh tells The Better India.
With help from JNAC, ToWaSo collected fruit waste from roadside juice vendors and centres and transport it to a unit they set up near the JNAC town hall.
At this unit, they placed ten big plastic drums, nine of which were filled with 200 ml of fruit waste. The last one was filled with microbes. The nine drums were later filled with water and the required microbes.
In three to four weeks, the combined process of hydrolysis and acidogenic resulted in an acetic solution.
This solution, now christened Bio-Enzyme, is a suitable cleaning solution, that can be used to clean the toilet pan as well as the floor and walls within the toilets.
What are its benefits over chemical cleaning agents?
First off, the project is helping turn fruit waste into a useful bio-enzyme toilet cleaner. So in a way, it is breathing life into waste by turning it into something useful, instead of letting it clog dumping grounds and landfills.
In the process, it reduces the dependence on chemical agents.
Additionally, says Saurabh, it is microbe-friendly, so it helps enhance the bacterial process in the septic tanks or faecal sludge treatment facilities to help degrade human waste faster.
More than anything, it works its magic without harming the environment even while being produced. Fruit waste is locally available, and the process can be income-generating for those who undertake it.
What is the financial requirement?
While the space to set up the unit has its own cost, the crucial one-time investment to facilitate the process is Rs 20,000. Over the last three months, ToWaSo has been able to convert over 600 kg of fruit waste into 5,400 litres of eco-friendly toilet cleaning solution.
While the startup is supplying the cleaning agent to JNAC for free at the moment, it soon plans to commercially market it!
And we wish them the very best!
To know more about ToWaSo, check out their Facebook page here.
When Chitransh was in school, he was just as curious as most boys his age, when he saw ads on TV about sanitary pads or when girls and women spoke in hushed whispers about the ‘P’ word.
And while the topic of menstruation often resulted in a wave of giggles among the boys in his class, Chitransh turned to his mother with a head full of questions and was courageous enough to voice them.
Chitransh’s mother, Sunita, thankfully did not brush them off, and decided to sit him down and explain the monthly phenomenon.
Cut to 2019 and 26-year-old Chitransh is helping make menstrual hygiene accessible to more than 148 women in rural and urban slums in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh through a ‘PadBank’ which is completely free of cost!
Chitransh Saxena
With more than 19 pad donation drives and 148 girls and women as beneficiaries, his team has distributed 1500 packets of pads (close to 12,000 pads) free of cost since June 2018!
The Better India got in touch with Chitransh to know about his journey.
It all began when the resident of Shastri Nagar came across families living on the pavement, during his commute to work.
“I wondered how they sustained themselves, because odd jobs hardly earned them Rs 15-20. I knew I wanted to do something for them. While several initiatives dealt with charity in food, clothes, and money, I decided to work in the space of menstrual hygiene. The topic is often brushed under the carpet and treated as a taboo when it is a natural phenomenon, but I believe that every woman has the right to a safe period.”
The release of ‘PadMan‘ a film starring Akshay Kumar and Radhika Apte, which chronicled the story of menstruation warrior Arunachalam Muruganantham, was also a significant inspiration.
“It helped me realise that men could work towards breaking the period taboo, and gave me the confidence to talk about menstruation.”
He was aware the path would entail a few negative reactions or even humiliation, with people laughing at him, but he decided to go ahead, anyway.
To ensure that underprivileged women would be more comfortable, he spoke to his friend Ana Khan, who readily agreed to travel to Paharganj and interact with women.
The team at work
“On June 27th, I bought my first Santali pad and brushed up on my knowledge about menstruation. When Ana and I visited the women in Paharganj, we gathered them in one place. They spoke to us about the unhygienic substitutes they used like use-and-throw cloth, polythene, cotton, and even jute bags. We educated them about how these alternatives could cause infections in the long run and distributed our first set of free pads to them.”
Was it easy? No.
Today, the initiative with more than 19 such donations has extended from the slums to schools, but the initial journey was full of roadblocks.
“When we would visit the slums to speak to women, their husbands would slam the doors on our faces or tell us, what is need to discuss menstruation? A few older women were also resistant to our work. Many women were also shy, thanks to the stigma around menstruation. But we slowly started easing them into conversations. This often happened in the noon when their husbands were at work. Today, every month, these women openly approach us, regardless of whether the team member is male or female and asking for pads. That is a big mindset change.”
How does it work?
PadBank passbooks
PadBank, true to its name, works like a bank where every woman under the initiative has a passbook which has her photograph and ID in the front and the months mentioned on the back.
“Every month, we give them a pack of eight pads free of cost and tick the box against the respective month. We maintain the data for each of these women and girls with the dates of their period mentioned. We ensure that the packet reaches them before that. For some reason, if we don’t reach on time, we ensure that the women can get pads from the centers we have set up —like a medical one or a PadBank members’ home. While all the members have a stock at home to dispense to these women, we ensure that the centre that the women get the pads from during emergencies is paid. We also have a calling service, where women can get in touch with us, and we deliver it to them.”
“When I started, I did not tell anyone. I decided to wait until the first distribution to tell my parents. When I told them, their response was unexpected. They said, ‘Had you told us earlier, we would have helped you too!’”
And from then on, there has been no looking back. Both Sunita and Dinesh Saxena have been backing their son.
With more than 15 members, 19 distribution and eight menstruation awareness sessions and workshops in schools and public spaces, PadBank will complete a year on June 27.
While the pads are funded by the members who shell money from their own pockets and savings, a few good samaritans like their teachers, residents, etc. extend help in terms of sanitary napkin donation and financial support too.
They work in collaboration with a pad manufacturing unit in the vicinity which sells them the packet of eight pads at the low-cost of Rs 19, despite the fact that their distribution cost or MRP is Rs 30.
The team members include Chitransh, Utkarsh Saxena, Ana Khan, Shilpi Saxena, Saher Choudhary, Rashi Udit, Aishwarya Lal, Jennifer Lal, Ashesha Arora, Amaan Siddiqui, Anil K Raz, and Emmanuel Singh.
His team
“We want to break the taboo around menstruation. It needs to be openly spoken about without any stigma shame attached to it. We want to empower young girls and women with the courage to not only turn to their mothers but even ask their fathers and brothers to buy a sanitary pad packet when in need. And it gives me immense joy to tell you, that from people who slammed the door in our faces and shamed us in the beginning to now them becoming a part of the bank, the journey has been a rewarding one” says Chitransh.
Chitransh believes that creating awareness among young boys and men is just as important, and want to conduct workshops exclusively for them.
“Under our Twitter and Instagram campaign ‘Let’s talk about period’ we are appealing to our followers to make 30-second videos and talk about menstrual hygiene, myths, sustainable practices, etc.,” he says.
He adds how often schools don’t agree to allow boys and girls to be educated in one room when talking about menstruation.
“But I think, it is crucial. Only when they are educated together, will girls not shy away from asking for help from their male counterparts in times of crisis. Even our boys need to learn that it is not something to make fun of but extend help.”
He ends with a message, “I want to tell everyone who comes across this story, that this is not rocket science. From gifting your house-help a sanitary pad every month to helping underprivileged women in the vicinity, it is a replicable model. We can all be a part of the PadBank. Today, only 18 per cent of women in India use sanitary pads. My vision is to help increase this number to 75 per cent by India’s 75th Independence Day in 2022.”
Want to help Chitransh Saxena and his team, get in touch with him on +91 84499 97778 or write to him at mypadbank@gmail.com
Though the Law prohibits manual scavenging, the practice continues unabated. For the most part, those working as manual scavengers remain undocumented, underpaid and exploited. This is a stigmatised occupation that operates from the underbelly of social negligence. Workers often receive no precautionary or safety equipment, resulting in serious health hazards and risk to life that far outweighs the meagre wages they get.
Earlier this week, two contractual workers in Gurugram died upon inhaling toxic fumes while cleaning a septic tank. In this poisonous environment, what one witnesses is semi-solid and semi-fluid human fecal material that makes up about two-thirds of the tank. Diving further, the fecal sludge actually starts solidifying into a clay-like substance and towards the bottom it gets rock-hard. While vacuum pumps can suck out the liquid and semisolid material like they do for sewer lines, what they can’t do is break down the hard sludge.
That’s where manual scavengers come into the picture. In most cases, the entire cleaning is done by them because it’s cheap.
Vacuum pumps are costlier than human alternatives.
“When safai karamcharis (sweepers/cleaners) actually showed us how manual scavengers carve the sludge and hammer it with their hands, we realised how difficult the environment is for them,” says Divanshu Kumar, a final year Mechanical Engineering student and part of IIT-Madras team led by Dr Prabhu Rajagopal, that is developing SEPoy – a Septic Tank Cleaning Robot.
Speaking to The Better India (TBI), Kumar argues that this robot has the potential to eradicate manual scavenging altogether. In close consultation with the Safai Karamchari Andolan (SKA), this team of researchers at IIT-Madras are on the cusp of delivering a product that could prevent safai karamcharis (cleaners) from engaging in the debilitating practice of manual scavenging.
“My work includes understanding how the robot goes inside the septic tank and how the cutting mechanism will work out. We are developing a mechanism by which the cutter can enter through small openings and subsequently perform homogenization of the tank contents. Once the hardened sludge is broken down, it can eventually be sucked off using vacuum pumps,” explains Kumar.
The only limitation now is that the robot cannot move in multiple places across the tank.
Divanshu, the IIT Madras Student and Professor Prabhu Rajagopal who are working on this project currently. (Source: Divanshu Kumar)
Naturally, the next step is the development of the robot’s propulsion capabilities. Speaking to various media publications, Professor Rajagopal, an Associate of the Centre for Nondestructive Evaluation at IIT Madras, speaks of the serious challenges involved in propelling this robot. He has been involved with this project for four years.
“If you use a rotary propeller, like in an aircraft, the blades will get congested within this fluid. Hence, we opted for bio-inspired fins,” Professor Prabhu told The Hindu.
Essentially, the robot comprises bio-inspired propulsion whose motion is set to mimic the fin movements of a fish inside water. Prof. Rajagopal is also developing multi-fin standalone propellers in related research that can aid this work.
The initial developments on the SEPoy robot were done by ex-IIT Madras students Kranthi Chaitanya and Tanmay Mothe during their Masters project in collaboration with Prof. Rajagopal. Their work was based on the fundamental understanding of fin-based propulsion developed by Masters students R. Santhosh and D. Srikanth also working in the group.
“Our first task is to break down the sludge and homogenize it. Once we achieve that part following rigorous in-lab tests, the second part of the work will cater to inspection inside the tank as well, where we will use all the propulsion technology. Even though the technology could work, the structure needs to be much more robust because it cannot work in the present form. The septic tank environment is much nastier than sewage pipe, which is essentially dirty water with other material. Sludge in the septic tank is much more solid and viscous,” says Kumar, speaking to TBI.
This is why more work is required on the bio-propulsion. The engineering challenges are very real. For example, the IITM team has understood that it is not ideal to have electronic devices or wires protruding into the septic tank environment, in order to avoid the risk of explosion because of inflammable gases present.
“After rigorous in-lab testing, we are on the cusp of field testing. If all goes according to plan, this product could be ready for the market in about three to six months, probably costing somewhere between the range of Rs 10-30 lakh. However, for the moment it does seem too soon to comment on the price,” says Kumar.
“One of the biggest challenges that has stymied the development of this technology is the very limited data on human faeces sludge. It is a very complex material, and there can be a large variation in viscosity, shear strain response etc for such media. The route we have chosen is to do a lab study on materials that could simulate sludge behaviour. We are testing it in an environment that simulates conditions in a septic tank but instead of human faeces, we will use some other synthetic material,” informs Kumar.
The prototype is almost already.
Earlier version of SEPoy which was developed for propulsion & cleaning. (Source: Divanshu)
“If we directly deploy the prototype in a real septic tank, there are high chances of failure. The stage we are in right now is to simulate a septic tank as much as possible in the laboratory, and to do that is a challenge,” he adds.
Unless you truly understand the material you have to cut, it’s hard to develop strength, shear endurance, and other facets of the robot. That is why this team at IIT-Madras has extensively consulted with members of the SKA.
“Since we can’t do any direct testing in the lab, whatever inputs we are getting about the environment, come from the SKA. They were the first ones to tell us that the sludge is very hard in the tank. Unfortunately, in-depth understanding of the septic tank and sludge behaviour is very limited in the scientific sphere,” says another researcher.
Another challenge is the variation in the size of the septic tanks. There is no set standard. Thus, these engineers really have to come up with a dynamic design that could address at least a major part of the septic tanks being developed in the country. This is the knowledge researchers also received from the SKA.
“Our effort is to ensure that these safai karamcharis can operate these machines and not enter septic tanks. Another fundamental aspect that I’m working on to reduce the complexity of using this machine as much as possible,” says Kumar.
If we want to save lives, these robots could one day be the way forward.
IIT Madras student Divanshu Kumar standing with SEPoy.
‘While the cleaning and maintenance of septic tanks and sewer lines is a serious social problem, a mechanisation of this process also offers serious engineering and technological challenges. We have taken one route to this through innovations in the type of propulsion and homogenisation, which we hope together with modular design will lead to a simple and cost-effective solution. Our work has reached the prototype stage and we are set to perform laboratory trials. The road from the laboratory to field deployment is long and tough, often dubbed ‘the valley of death’ – but we hope to cross this chasm and take this to the field in the coming year, thanks to the efforts by dedicated students such as Divanshu and others’,” says Professor Rajagopal, speaking to TBI.
(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)
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Neena runs a copper utensils stall in Fancy Bazaar, a popular tourist market place in Guwahati, Assam bustling with local and traditional products like Assamese saris, bamboo pickles, tribal jewellery, souvenir shops, jaapi (a round bamboo cap) and gamcha (thin towel).
Having left her native town of Sualkuchi on the outskirts of Guwahati a decade ago in search of a better livelihood, Neena makes sure that there is someone manning the shop at all times, especially when she has to use the restroom for which she walks for nearly one kilometre.
In the largest city of Assam that covers an area of 328 square kilometres, this lack of access to basic necessities is not restricted to the Bazaar as there are only 11 public toilets and 33 bio toilets for a population of 9.57 lakhs!
As per the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC), lack of space is the fundamental issue that Guwahati is facing.
Under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, there are enough funds allocated to construct individual household and public toilets but due to lack of space we have not been able to fulfill the Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, GMC Municipal Commissioner Debeshwar Malakar tells The Better India.
To provide enough sanitation provisions to the residents and tourists, the municipal corporation has now directed hotel and restaurant owners to allow women and children to use toilets in their premises for free.
Guwahati hotels, restaurants owners to allow women and children free toilet access
“The decision of opening toilets in restaurants and hotels was taken in a conference of Governors and Lieutenant Governors at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi on 5 June. Post the meeting, we have inserted the clause in trade license format of GMC,” he adds.
The corporation is presently identifying areas in the city to increase the number of public toilets and the construction of 12 such toilets has begun. Alongside this, GMC is also building 3,000 individual household latrines in the city.
For now, extending basic sanitation through hotels and restaurants is certainly an effective way to curb public urination and and help prevent the health implications that women may develop when forced to control their bladder.
Women, especially, often control their bladder for hours together and this has severe health implications. The guideline will hopefully resolve that and reduce cases of open defecation, says Malakar.
As for Neena, there is a restaurant right opposite her stall. She now has to walk a few steps every time she needs to use the restroom.
Though there is no punishment in place to ensure that the guideline is not violated, the GMC will soon come out with a penalty. For now, the GMC is visiting all the restaurants and hotels in the city and informing them about allowing the public to access the restroom without the need to order food.
Other steps taken by the corporation to maintain cleanliness in the city include introduction of six flying squads to penalise people for littering and spitting in public areas. As for managing the daily waste generated in the city, GMC installed a composting plant in 2010 that converts 50 tonnes of wet waste into five tonnes of compost daily.
Opening up the toilets in restaurants and hotels does seem like a welcome move. However, whether or not the hotel staff cooperates with the GMC and implements the order is something that all of us will have to wait for.
Padmanabha Arkalgudand and Venkatasubba Rao aged 83 years and 81 respectively, are not your usual retirees who are used to spending relaxing days at home. They are community activists who can give the armchair or social media activists a run for their money. The two have worked to save lakes, bring down the crime rate in their neighbourhood through community vigilantism and what’s more, build toilets for students in government schools.
In this conversation with The Better India, Padmanabha explains how their brand of fearless activism solves local issues and makes a real difference to the lives of people.
A morning walk leads to building toilets in schools
Padmanabha and Rao have been friends for 60 years, since their law college days. Morning walks are a daily routine for the friends. And one of such walks turned interesting.
“We were on our regular walk, when a stench made us investigate its source. It was coming from a toilet opposite the government primary school in Byasandra,” he recalls.
They could have covered their noses and walked on, but this octogenarian duo decided to do work on the problem.
“Just imagine 150 students using those toilets without even a door. If one girl went in to use the toilet, one would stand outside guarding the place. Even inside the toilet was just terrible,” he says.
The friends reached out to friends, family, acquaintances via whatsapp and emails appealing for financial help. To drive the point home they also attached a picture to the messages.
Funds started flowing in after a local daily carried an article about their crowdsourcing. “We met several contractors and finally found one who said that the project could be completed in Rs 1.76 lakhs. We also got volunteer engineers on-board to help us out.”
What’s interesting is that they managed to raise almost double the amount that was actually needed. “Once the toilet was built, one of the biggest challenges was maintenance. That was when the Inner Wheel Club stepped in and said that they would help maintain it and took over the task,” Padmanabha informs.
Upon hearing about the work the duo had done, they received two more appeals from schools facing similar situation.
“We went there for inspection and realised that we would fall short of Rs 63,000. We sent out another set of appeals and we managed to raise the money. The project at Sarakki, JP Nagar, is complete. We inaugurated it on 14 October.”
Another one at Bandepalya is in progress.
The Team’s brand of fearless activism
Before and After
Padmanabha who is the Founder President of Citizens Forum, Yelahanka New Town, Bengaluru says, “I decided to start this forum to find a solution to the serious crime rate this area was plagued with. We were able to bring down the crime rate, by organised night vigilance by residents, and subsequently went on to protect three lakes in Yelahanka New Town Area, including the Yelahanka Puttenahalli lake which has now been declared as the only bird sanctuary in Bengaluru.”
The most famous of the duo’s effort being, an attempt to help revive the Byasandra lake that had been allotted to a property developer. Rao took the case all the way up to the Supreme Court and won. The lake is being restored now.
So what challenges did they face?
“The biggest takeaway from all this for us is that building the toilets is not the problem. Its use and proper maintenance is of prime concern,” says Padmanabha. When they embarked on their toilet-building mission, they faced a lot of resistance from the locals.
On most days the locals used the classrooms and toilets after school hours for various illegal activities. “Rooms were free and toilets were available so it was free access for all,” he informs.
Knowing fully well that the local slum dwellers would try and enter the toilets, they built the toilets with steel doors and also installed steel barricades at almost every entry point.
They also conducted a session for the teachers explaining them to take education beyond books and teach students about basic hygienic practices. Padmanabha says, “Education is inclusive of behaviour and given how infections could spread with the use of bad toilets, the need to change that is imperative.”
How do they handle the funds that come in? The duo say, “We follow a very transparent process – the funds get deposited in a special joint Bank SB account in our names and once the money has been utilised for a particular project, we send out a detailed note to all the donors. That way everyone involved feels a part of the process as well.”
How can you help? While this dynamic duo continues to help wherever they can, they appeal to others to come forward and volunteer their time.
Padmanabha says, “This is physically taxing for the two of us, and while we continue to do it, it would help to have youngsters come forward and do some of the running around work.”
Padmanabha retired as a Senior Vice President from ITC Ltd. and Rao retired as General Manager from the Reserve Bank of India, Bangalore. He requests his ex-colleagues who may come across this article to come forward and help in their endeavours.
Reach out to Padmanabha at padmanabha.arkalgud@gmail.com and svsrao.blr.rbi@gmail.com.
When Group Captain (retd) Sharad Tewari and his wife Savita, a social activist, received news that their son, Squadron Leader Shishir Tewari, had lost his life in the Mi-17 V5 crash in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district on 6 October 2017, they were devastated.
“Shishir was a committed man, who believed that every individual must contribute to make the nation better in their own capacity,” shares 55-year-old Savita with The Better India.
To continue their son’s dream of working for the country, the husband-wife duo, who are based in Ghaziabad, established a trust named ‘Shaheed Sqn Ldr Shishir Tewari Memorial Charitable Trust.’
Under its aegis, they began teaching around 100 impoverished children in Delhi’s Yamuna Khadar slum, from 15 August 2018 onwards.
“Children in slums have very few educational resources at their disposal and to worsen the situation, their parents often force them to drop out to take up menial jobs. Health is another area that is generally neglected in the slums. Taking our knowledge and whatever resources we had, we started working there,” Sharad (60) tells TBI.
It was not very difficult for the couple to mobilise the parents to send their kids to the informal school. “It was almost as if they were looking for a helping hand, we just had to extend it,” says Savita.
Seeing their efforts, the slum committee even allowed an open space inside the slum to take the classes.
Friends and family of Tewari’s also came forward to help in the initiative through donations in the form of stationery and money. Some offered their time and volunteering services to run the programme.
The informal school functions in two shifts, five days a week and is entirely free for slum children. Currently, 350 children from class one to twelve are a part of this initiative.
“Children of rickshaw-pullers, wagel labourers and domestic workers attend the classes after school hours. We have 25 volunteers who help them with their school homework and teach all subjects, including Maths Social Sciences and Science,” shares Savita.
The couple also assists children of class five and above to avail the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota in government schools.
For girls who prefer dropping out after eighth or tenth grade, volunteers have started vocational teaching, and for now, stitching training is imparted.
In the areas of health, hygiene and sanitation, the trust often conducts seminars and workshops inviting experts to sensitise children about the importance of living a healthy life.
“In the last one year, we have also focussed on non-academic teaching— and focussed on imparting knowledge about basic hygiene and sanitation, the importance of clean surroundings, maintaining menstrual hygiene, and so on. The children have been fast learners and cooperative. A change can be noticed in their mannerisms and behaviour. There is a lot of respect coming from their way, and on some days they can be seen making their area litter-free,” says Savita.
Where there is a positive impact, the trust also faced backlash and threats from the locals on several occasions. “Some locals feel like we are intruding in their personal space, while some feel that education is not necessary as the goal is to earn money at the end of the day. We have embraced the goods but fought challenges with an honest intention,” she adds.
A few months ago, the trust expanded its activities to begin teaching 50 children more under a metro shed.
The couple has dedicated their time to this initiative and hope to expand it to other slums. They wish to see these kids become lawyers, engineers, pilots, soldiers, journalists, and so on one day and serve the country, just like their son did.
“It was Shishir’s valour and philosophy that inspired us to start this noble deed. This is the best way we can pay tribute to our son. Wherever he is, I am sure he will be happy and proud to see us doing this work,” concludes Savita.
If you wish to help the trust, which also works with old-age homes and orphanages in any form, click here.
You can also reach out to the Tewari’s at: tee_vee15@yahoo.co.in or +91 98911 95135
According to UNICEF, the highest number of people in the world (around 620 million) who practice open defecation, reside in India. And the hazards of open defecation and poor sanitation facilities are numerous. Disease, poor hygiene, lack of privacy and women at increased risk of sexual assault, to name a few.
Coming in with a solution which helps build a toilet in half the time it usually takes, are the engineers at AMMACHI Labs. The research centre at Amrita University (Kerala) has developed a new mould-based technique for toilet construction that makes constructing them easy, efficient and economically viable.
Developed by using 3D modelling, the key benefits of using this technique include reduction in time and cost for constructing toilets in remote rural settings. A semi-skilled group of four women can construct one unit in approximately 40 hours instead of the conventional 76 hours—cutting the total time by nearly half.
Moreover, they train rural women to construct these toilets. Thus far, they have trained more than 200 women to build these toilets across eight states. Innovations like these are crucial in developing scalable solutions to end open defecation.
Training women to construct toilets.
The Innovation
“We do not just build toilets,” says AMMACHI Labs Director Dr. Bhavani Rao, speaking to The Better India. “The empowerment model we adopt for sanitation is that we teach the women to build and maintain their own toilets. After they master these construction skills, they can earn a living from it by building toilets for others in the village. It’s a win-win solution.”
In 2015, they made a sample mould-based toilet in the University and tested it for a year. After quality control checks, they rolled it out in the field across eight states—Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha.
Thus far, more than 400 such toilets have been built across 21 states.
How do they build toilets utilising your new mould-based technique?
“It’s a modular system with each piece numbered. The women assemble each piece by following and aligning the pieces, besides fixing the unit with nuts and bolts. There are only two sets of moulds — one for the foundation, and the other is the walls of the stall. There are a lot of benefits to this technique,” says S Harish Mohan, a mechanical design engineer with AMMACHI Labs, speaking to TBI.
A finished toilet.
Firstly, it needs less skill to make the toilet as it does not require to train masons to lay bricks or plaster them. The model for the toilet has been dubbed MTF Model, which translates into ‘Monday-Tuesday Finished’, and there are options to lay the hinges inside the stall. Furthermore, women don’t need to read instructions. They can follow an easy to learn video which shows the whole process of assembly and building and maintenance.
While the estimated cost of the mould is approximately Rs 55,000, the unit cost of building a toilet is anywhere between Rs 11,500 and Rs 14,000, compared to the conventional Rs 18,000-Rs 22,000.
Using mild steel for rural applications ensures long life in addition to cement, aggregate (gravel, crushed stone, etc) and sand. For the mould, they use waste motor-oil or cooking oil to grease the panels so that they easily come apart.
“The rural sector needs a concrete structure, so we went with this design. For the mould, we adopted a design which can be manufactured in sheet metal shops in rural areas. The design uses mild steel sheet for manufacturing. Once the concrete inside the mould is solidified, the mould can be unassembled and can be used to make another,” says Mohan.
The mould can be assembled in less than an hour and unassembled in the same fashion. Installation of the mould needs skills like checking the vertical and horizontal levels. Makers have to ensure the available gap in between the outer and inner mould is equal. Wall construction concrete mixture is used in the proportion of 1:3:5 of cement: sand: aggregate. The team conducted compressive strength test in the structural testing lab for which the results were positive.
Women at work.
AMMACHI Labs and other initiatives
AMMACHI Labs does not just build toilets. Through community mobilisation, capacity building, skill development, sustainability maintenance for a community-led total sanitation approach and utilising innovative e-Learning methods such as the tablet based Rural Toilet Builder (RBT) course, they empower rural women to build their own toilets. The RBT course uses videos in different local languages like Kannada and Odia, alongside 3D animations, to teach locals everything from site selection to maintenance.
One such beneficiary of their efforts is Renuka Nayak of Gupatapada village, which is located around 40 kilometers from Bhubaneswar. She was the first women mason involved in the making of the toilets under the AMMACHI Labs initiative.
“I feel so accomplished to have learned all these skills through the computer. We women are learn quick learners. In addition to housework, we also learn these skills and can do so much. Women have more attention to detail than men, and can do very precise work if given the opportunity,” she says.
Group of women at work building a toilet.
For the time being, the project is self-funded. The objective now is to empower at least 5,000 women in rural Indian communities to champion sanitation and community development, eventually reaching their entire village, or 30,000 indirect beneficiaries.
“Participating women will receive continuous life skill training, while we will continue to conduct sanitation campaigns, organise and mobilise efforts to implement key community actions to access government programs, such as the Swachh Bharat Mission that specifically promotes sanitation,” shares Mohan.
This community mobilisation and training effort is designed to efficiently reach entire communities in a short amount of time. It will also provide strength and support to the women advocating and petitioning to their local governments to address social and environmental issues in their villages.
(Source: AMMACHI Labs)
“Moreover, it is in line with the Government of India’s commitment to improving sanitation and rural development, as well as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” adds Mohan, while discussing his team’s future goals.
Empowering these women to build their own toilets is one method that not only addresses concerns about lack of toilets, but also helps them take ownership of these structures, maintain hygiene and take care of their health.
Before the crack of dawn Sonamani Devi, a resident of Dumdi village in Jharkhand, would venture out with her three daughters in the dark. She had no other choice. In the absence of bathrooms, they had to find a space to answer nature’s call before the men started arriving.
Some of the first people to have used these toilets were women“Hume bahar hi baithna padta tha. Subah jaldi nikalte the hum kyuki jab roshni aa jaati thi, bohot sharam aati thi hume. Aadmi ghoorne lagte the,” says Sonamani. (We had to sit in the open. We had to venture out early because if it got bright, men would stare at us. We used to feel very embarrassed.).
But things have changed for Sonamani Devi and several people like her. “Now, we can visit the toilet as many times as I want. We do not have to worry about the time. It’s safe and free,” she smiles.
SHRI’s is providing clean drinking water with the help of their model
This change has been brought about by Sanitation and Health Rights In India (SHRI) which is working towards making the country open defecation free. The organisation has constructed over nine sanitation facilities—five in Bihar and four in Jharkhand, positively impacting the lives of over 5,000 people living in these areas. SHRI claims that each facility is used at least 1000 times in a day!
Interestingly, SHRI’s model is not only meeting the sanitation and hygiene requirements of the country’s villages but also supplying the villagers with safe drinking water for just Rs. 50 paise per litre!
The Founding of SHRI
SHRI was founded in 2014, by Anoop Jain, Prabin Kumar and Chandan Kumar. Prabin, a graduate in Social Work from Shree Bhuvan University in Nepal, met Chandan, 34, at Project Why, a Delhi-based organisation working towards children’s education.
Chandan has a degree in Political Science from the Bhupendra Narayan Mandal University in Madhepura, Bihar and had already been working at Project Why since 2001.
The founders (left to right) Anoop, Prabin and Chandan
Wanting to make quality education accessible to rural children, both Prabin and Chandan quit their jobs in 2010. They founded an organisation called Deep Jyoti Charitable Trust in Bihar. While doing the groundwork for their objective, they realised how the lack of proper sanitation facilities is a massive challenge across villages.
It was during this time the duo met Anoop Jain who had gotten in touch with them as a volunteer. Anoop is a PhD scholar from the United States who had been volunteering with multiple organisations in the social sector in India. The three then sped up their research work and talked to villagers from Bihar in areas like Supaul, Ramdatpatti, and Basbitti among others, and finally conceptualised SHRI in 2014.P
SHRI and its Solutions
Inside SHRI toilets
“When we were looking for solutions, developing a sustainable model was a bigger challenge than constructing toilets,” says 35-year-old Prabin.
The founders got in touch with sanitation experts like Sulabh International to understand the basics and navigate through challenges related to sanitation. To develop a sustainable model, the founders not only spoke to community members but also government officials and other stakeholders.
“From our conversations with people on the ground in Bihar, where we first started, we also realised that access to drinking water was another big challenge,” explains Prabin.
States like Jharkhand and Bihar come under the mineral belt of India and have a very high concentration of iron in the water, making it unfit for drinking.
“But this issue helped us develop a sustainable model that could solve both the toilets and the drinking water problem,” shares Prabin.
People drinking clean drinking water purified at SHRI’s facility
Drinking water has become extremely scarce with 70 per cent of the available water being contaminated. The Niti Ayog published a report which states that 600 million people in India face high to extreme water stress. The report further noted that at least three-fourths of the households in the country do not have access to drinking water.
SHRI tried to solve both these problems with one single solution. The organisation constructs a sanitation facility that comprises of 16 toilets, eight each for men and women. The facilities have a plumbing system along with hand-washing stations and biodigester.
The biodigester hygienically disposes of the human waste to produce methane gas. This methane gas is then used to power a generator which pumps and filters upto 1,000 litres of water in an hour. The management sells this purified water, and the revenue generated helps in the maintenance of the sanitation unit.
The founders developed the solution in collaboration with volunteers who came from abroad, and the research and consultation with different communities on the ground. Supaul district in Bihar was the first place where they successfully constructed their first sanitation unit.
Construction of the facility
SHRI also worked with the Bihar government’s Jeevika Bihar Rural livelihood Promotion Society to build a toilet in the Sahar district of Bihar.
Operations, Challenges and Impact
Despite having come up with a feasible solution, the road to progress hasn’t been easy for the trio. Initially, the founders had to construct these toilets with the money they had won in several innovation competitions. They built their first unit with the prize money of Rs. 21.28 Lakh that they had won at the Dell Social Innovation Competition.
“There was no government help when we first started. We had to purchase the land from people and construct these facilities. But once they saw the impact of our solution, district officials and gram panchayat officials got in touch with us, and the process became smoother from then on,” recalls Prabin.
Now, state governments clear the land for SHRI to build these facilities. Furthermore, SHRI gets help from corporate CSR funds too.
Another challenge that they encountered was convincing people to consume clean and safe drinking water so that they wouldn’t have to visit the doctor often.
Anoop with a group of villagers who were working on the construction of the facility
“In villages, the whole concept of paying for water is an alien concept. We had to get doctors and medical experts to explain to the villagers the detrimental effect of unpurified water on their health. They finally realised that they were spending way more on getting treated than they would’ve by buying and drinking purified water. So, a lot of them made the switch,” says Prabin.
Moreover, SHRI employs five people for each of its facility. Take 24-year-old Pappu Kumar, from Dundibag Jhopadi in Bokaro, for example, who was working odd jobs in the construction sector until he started working in the water filtering section at the sanitation unit about three years ago.
“I found work only for 20 days in a month if I was lucky. I was only earning about Rs. 4,000 a month,” says the man with a family of six.
Now, he is happy that not only does he have a stable source of income, he also earns more than double of what he was making before. “I am also relieved that we are getting to drink clean water in our area now,” he smiles.
So, after having impacted so many lives, what’s in store for SHRI now?
“We are now planning to expand in the state of Assam and want to scale up operations in areas in need of such sanitation facilities. By 2022, we hope that the existing facilities are run independently by the communities without our intervention. We also hope for greater collaboration with government bodies so that we can ultimately reach the goal of safe sanitation for all,” signs off Prabin.
