Nirmal Gram Basunga : Singular Effort Of Gram Pradhan

The Gram Panchayat (GP) Basunga of block Bhatwari, District Uttarkashi was taken up under the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) in the year 2005-06. The GP consists of 79 households including 68 Nos. of General category and 11 households of Scheduled Tribes with only 15 households having Household Sanitary Latrines (HSL).

The implementing agency of the Total Sanitation Campaign in district Uttarkashi, the District Project Management Unit (DPMU) – Uttarkashi, organized an orientation workshop at the Block level for disseminating information, education and communication activities to sensitize the Gram Pradhans towards sanitation. Shri Pratap Singh Bisht, Gram Pradhan of Gram Panchayat Basunga was also present in it. He got motivated and took keen interest and led in promoting TSC activities in his Gram Panchayat.

Shri Bisht contacted the villagers individually and also in focused groups to discuss the existing sanitation status of his Gram Panchayat. He motivated the people defecating in open to construct technically appropriate latrines. He emphasized on the behavioral changes necessary to promote total sanitation in the village and discussed in details with the villagers the various diseases caused by open defecation, un-safe disposal of solid waste and inappropriate disposal of children’s faeces. He also organized various campaigns in his Panchayat to achieve open defecation free status of his Gram Panchayat.

Gram Pradhan, Shri Bisht motivated the lower income group households to construct low cost sanitary latrines by providing them employment opportunities through the Jawahar Rojgar Yojna. The school children and the teachers of the Primary School and Junior High School were individually contacted and school children sanitation rallies were organized to promote domestic and environmental sanitation in the Gram Panchayat. In the regular meetings of the Gram Panchayat, villagers especially women were motivated to construct latrines by emphasizing on the advantages of household sanitary latrines. They were also told importance of individual household sanitary latrines in checking occurrence of diseases like diarrheoa, jaundice, etc. caused by unhealthy sanitary conditions. The Gram Pradhan Shri Bisht, was instrumental in promoting low cost sanitation options among the villagers. He facilitated the construction of individual household sanitary latrines by arranging for transport of sanitary materials like seat, P-trap, etc. from Uttarkashi to the Gram Panchayat to make latrine construction cost effective.

On account of the concerted efforts of the Gram Pradhan, 31 Household Sanitary Latrines (3 BPL and 28 APL households) were constructed in short period and consequently the practice of open defecation in the Gram Panchayat has now been done away with. The Gram Panchayat is now declared “Nirmal” (open defecation free).The villagers are very happy on being rewarded with the “Nirmal Gram Puraskar” with an amount of Rupees Two Lakh in cash and a certificate of excellence by His Excellency Sh. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The GP is now a source of inspiration for other Gram Panchayats. The credit for this achievement mainly goes to the Gram Pradhan, Shri Pratap Singh Bisht, the representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions and the staff of the DPMU.