Mulshi becomes first taluka in Pune to shun open defecation
10 months of campaign that included incentives, naming and shaming and even Gandhigiri has worked.
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Mulshi, a picturesquehilly terrain, has tribal population in some pockets. Officials said convincing people there involved efforts from local village representatives and district officials.
Day-long gram sabhas, hoardings to name and shame those who do not use toilets and even Gandhigiri a la Munnabhai to present flowers to those unwilling to mend their ways have worked for Pune district’s Mulshi taluka, the first block in the district to completely shun the practice of open defecation.
The feat took 10 months of sustained campaign in all 95 villages of the taluka, home to 28,641 families, about the need to have a toilet. At the end of it, the 3000-odd families that did not have a toilet are a converted lot.
“We can proudly declare that Mulshi taluka in Pune district is the first to achieve open defecation-free status, with all the families in the villages having toilet blocks and using them now,” says Kantilal Umap, CEO of Pune Zilla Parishad.
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As per a survey by district officials, in Pune district, 82 per cent of the households have their own toilets. Elsewhere in Pune division, a few villages in Satara and Sangli districts have already completely got rid of the practice of open defecation.
Mulshi, a picturesque hilly terrain, has tribal population in some pockets. Officials said convincing people there involved efforts from local village representatives and district officials. Assistance from the corporate sector also helped, says Rahul Sahukare, a zilla parishad official involved in the project.
Mulshi’s Block Development Officer Shalini Kadu said convincing villagers was a tough job. “We had to start with telling families, especially those below poverty line, that those who did not construct toilets would be deprived of benefits of government schemes. This got them into action,” Kadu said.
Moreover, in October last year, the subsidy for construction of toilets was also increased to Rs 12,000.
S Kandhare, the sabhapati of Mulshi taluka, says building the toilets was only half the battle. “To get the villagers actually use them, morning and evening squads were formed to watch out for those defecating in the open,” he says.
“Initially, they resisted. But once they understood the importance of using a toilet, they began following it,” said a villager who was part of one such squad.
In Pune district, a total of 6.40 lakh families without toilets were identified, out of which 5.27 lakh households have constructed toilets by now.
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