I Dungarpur

I, Dungarpur
My ODF Journey from Shame to Pride
February 2016
The Story of Forty Four Gram Panchayats Achieving
ODF Status with Equity and Sustainability in 100 Days

Documentation support: UNICEF State Office for Rajasthan

List of Acronyms
ADM :
BDO :
BEEO :
BLO :
BLS :
CATS :
CEO :
CDPO :
DLO :
DEO :
DD-ICDS :
DM :
DPC-SBM :
DRG :
FINISH Society :
GoR :
GP :
HH :
IEC :
IHHL :
MLA :
ODF :
ODEP :
PRI :
R-SHACS :
SDLO :
SBM - G :
SDM :
SE-PHED :
SHACS :
SOP :
SRG :
SSOPs :
TSC :
UNICEF :
WASH :
Additional District Magistrate
Block Development Officer
Block Elementary Education Officer
Block Level Officer
Baseline Survey
Community Approaches to Total Sanitation
Chief Executive Officer
Child Development Project Officer
District Level Officer
District Education Officer
Deputy Director – Integrated Child Development Services
District Magistrate
District Project Coordinator – Swachh Bharat Mission
District Resource Group
Financial Inclusion Improves Sanitation and Health Society
Government of Rajasthan
Gram Panchayat
Household
Information Education and Communication
Individual Household Latrine
Member of Legislative Assembly
Open Defecation Free
Open Defecation Elimination Plan
Panchayati Raj Institutions
Rajasthan Sanitation and Hygiene Advocacy
and Communication Strategy
Sub Divisional Level Officer
Swachh Bharat Mission – Gramin
Sub-Divisional Magistrate
Superintending Engineer – Public Health Department
Sanitation and Hygiene Advocacy
and Communication Strategy
Standard Operating Procedures
State Resource Group
Simplified Standard Operating Procedures
Total Sanitation Campaign
United Nations Children’s Fund
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

English rendering of Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi’s address at the launch of Swachh Bharat
Mission at Rajpath 2 October 2014
“Today is 2nd October, the birth anniversaries
of our Pujya Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur
Shashtri ji. Lal Bahadur Shastri gave us the Mantra
of Jai Jawan Jai Kisan. Indian Farmers filled the
granaries in reply to that exhortation. Pujya Bapu
gave us the message of ‘Quit India- Clean India’.
Our countrymen, under the leadership of Mahatma
Gandhi, freed the nation from colonialism. Bapu’s
dream of cleanliness, however, remains unfulfilled.”

I am Dungarpur
A non-descript district, in the
southernmost part of Rajasthan,
spread over 3770 kilometers. As
my name suggests, my terrain is
hilly, but beautiful. I am known
as the Kashmir of Rajasthan.
There is no stench in my
pathways. My children are able
to walk freely around my villages
and play as much as they want
to, as they do not fall ill. My
daughters are healthier and
safer now and are living a life of
dignity. The daughter-in-laws’
are grateful to their families for
having them married into my
households. My sons are able to
save their hard earned money
as it is not being wasted on
expenses incurred due to water
and sanitation related illnesses.
My villages have become greener
and my children are more selfsufficient.
1

Wondering Why?
Forty four Gram Panchayats
(GPs), covering 75,000
households of mine have become
Open Defecation Free (ODF) in
100 days. This is a feat! My sons
and daughters, old and young,
have got a new lease of life - a life
of dignity, safety and hygiene.
A miracle happened to make
me reach this stage. At least
for me, it was. What could not
happen for an uncountable
number of years, took place in
less than a year. 100 days to
be exact. Age old behaviours
changed. Peoples’ mindset were
transformed. Women’s voices
were heard. Children’s needs
were understood. Men used
their money effectively. A lot of
motivation and hard work went
into making Dungarpur what it
is today, what it has achieved
today. A long journey was
traversed to reach to this point
- a journey, full of tribulations,
lessons, challenges, rewards and
a lot of perseverance.
Women in Dungarpur Lead the Way
One of my most brave daughters, Hina Ahari set an
example for the Dungarpur ODF drive - a 24-yearold
woman- attended a training session organized
by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and
Financial Inclusion Improves Sanitation and
Health (FINISH) Society motivators and realized
the importance of a toilet at home. She decided to
take a stand. When she went to her maternal home
for a vacation, she called her husband and refused
to return until he built a toilet for her. “I decided to
not live in shame and demanded a toilet from my
husband for my dignity. My husband also understood
my plight and constructed a toilet.
2

My Story
Until about a year ago (October
2014) this is where I stood - with
over 249 Gram Panchayats in
my region, not a single Gram
Panchayat (GP) was Open
Defecation Free (ODF) and only
12 per cent of the households
had toilets. What was worse, out
of this 12 per cent, only 2 percent
were regularly used.
I felt repugnant at the sight of
men lining up my pathways at
the crack of dawn to defecate
in the open. The women were
forced to wake up early, form a
group and wait to get together
to walk distances to relieve
themselves. The children would
follow their elders and do the
same.
Gradually, my daughters started
falling ill. Overworked, unable
to relieve themselves when
required, they started falling
sick. Unhappy and unhealthy
women can never raise a happy
Sanitation Status of India
India has 60 per cent of
the world’s population that
defecates in the open and
22 per cent of world’s total
under 5 deaths. An estimated
212,000 children under the
age of five die each year in
the country due to diarrhoeal
diseases and 88 per cent
of diarrhoeal cases can be
directly attributed to unsafe
drinking water, inadequate
sanitation and poor hygiene
conditions. There are
595 million people open
defecating in India, of which
547 million live in rural areas
(JMP, 2014); and 75% of ST and
63% of SC have no access to
household sanitation (Census
of India, 2011).
and a healthy family. They would travel to a bus stop or a hospital,
seek the comforts of having a toilet there. They would return from
hospitals and ask their husbands to construct a toilet for them, but
their voices were never heard and their opinions never mattered.
My sons would spend money on buying tobacco and alcohol but
would not understand the significance of a toilet. My children would
also defecate in the open, not wash hands before eating and would
just fall and remain ill.
Everyone was falling prey to their unhygienic practices and
defecating in the open. They were never taught or explained the
3

Sanitation Status of Rajasthan
Rajasthan has a rural
sanitation coverage of 19.6% as
compared to national coverage
of 30.7%. Following which, as
per the Baseline Survey (BLS)
carried out by Government
of Rajasthan in November
2012, State’s rural sanitation
coverage is pegged at 27.3%
as against national coverage
of 40.4%. This translates to 8.4
million households not having
access to sanitation facility.
The State shows marked
disparities amongst districts
- the tribal districts located in
the south-east of the State
generally show development
indicators lower than the State
average and also lower HDI
rank, a trend which continued
to grow over the last decade.
The southern part of
Rajasthan is mostly comprised
of hard to reach remote areas
and mountainous terrain.
This area mainly includes
the tribal districts of Udaipur,
Dungarpur and Banswara;
the Water, Sanitation and
Hygiene (WASH) situation is
quite challenging in these
tribal areas of Rajasthan and
the districts have a higher
rate of rural open defecation
(more than 90%) compared
to the state average of
approximately 80%.
importance of hygiene, toilets and using toilets. How that arrested
the incidence of various diseases was never know to my people. No
one ever talked about sanitation. No one ever cared. I was one of the
poorest districts of Rajasthan.
Industries would not set shop in my district. With over 74 per cent
tribal population (Census 2011), I was neglected and ignored. No
one put faith in me and never imagined that progress was possible
within my region as well. While the world visits many regions of
Rajasthan, they would not had even heard about me.
4

Yes, I had shortcomings. Yet,
I had strengths as well. My
terrain is hilly, but is a sight to
behold. My people belong to the
tribes and are driven and hard
working. My people believe in
change, change for the better.
That’s the reason, I began to
change, against all odds. Simply,
because I wanted to change! As
this thought took birth, an idea
also started germinating. This
time, it had to work! This time,
change had to be brought in. And
finally it did. The idea of Ruparoo
Dungarpur started germinating
and the message started making
its way through the convoluted
paths.
In August/October 2014, the
district administration started
making plans to achieve the
target of making Dungarpur
ODF. The District Collector,
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)-
Zila Parishad, Sub-Divisional
Magistrates (SDMs), Block
Development Officers (BDOs)
and District Project Coordinator
– Swachh Bharat Mission (DPC-
SBM) set the stage and started
getting their teams together to
implement the action plan. Along
the way, they got into partnerships
with organisations such as
United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF), Financial Inclusion
Improves Sanitation and Health
(FINISH) Society, and Nehru
Yuva Kendra to receive support
in community mobilization and
behaviour change. As the journey
began, more people joined in
such as CBOs, Nodal Officers of
Gram Panchayats (GPs), frontline
workers of departments and
Field Coordinators of partner
agencies, District Resource Group
(DRG) members, Zila Pramukh,
Members of Legislative Assembly
(MLAs), Pradhans, Sarpanchs,
Ward Panchs and over 25 Supply
vendors from across different
blocks.
This long chain of passionate,
hardworking and driven people
worked day and night to change
mindsets that had never been
5

The Spiritual Disconnect
Bhanwar Lal Rot is a Sarpanch of Venja village. He
is a very spiritual person who understands that
cleanliness is next to Godliness. He had been
proactively educating my other sons on aspects
like education and health but never realised the
importance of toilets in the house.
changed before, convince people,
who had never seen a toilet
before, to construct and use
toilets and to motivate everyone
to join the bandwagon of hygienic
and healthy practices.
Change started becoming visible.
I, Dungarpur, was the happiest to
see the change in my daughters’
lives. A self-help group woman
shared her excitement, “We are so
relieved! Our health has improved
and we are more rested! Whenever
we used toilets in hospitals or bus
stations, we hoped for one at our
houses, as we loved the privacy
it offered. We would request our
husbands but they would ignore
us and give the excuse of financial
constraints. They would spend
on liquor but could not spend
on toilet construction, simply
because it was not a priority’’.
Through the Community
Approaches to Total Sanitation
(CATS) carried out and the
community mobilization
drives, gradually, men started
understanding the significance
of constructing and using a
toilet. Additionally, the ASHA
and Anganwadi self-help groups
helped them a lot.
One of the most interesting facets
of the community mobilization
was the morning follow up
sessions. I witnessed this
phenomenon for the first time.
“Last year we were trained in the
morning follow up sessions that
involved our participation as part
of the Community Approaches
to Total Sanitation ’’ said Rani
Damor.
The women understood the
significance of using a toilet
and that open defecation led
to diseases. They took on the
responsibility of spreading the
message and convincing people
to make their village ODF. They
would get up at 4 in the morning,
finish their household chores
which involved tending to their
cattle and farm, cooking for the
family and filling water. “We could
compromise on our sleep and
put in a few extra hours but we
6

wanted the people to understand
how important hygiene is, to
reduce diseases and ill health.
Most of our money would be
spent on health and there were
hardly any savings. We had to
work towards achieving total
sanitation,’’ said Kamla Damor, an
ASHA worker.
“We made toilets in
our households and
started using them.
Our lives improved.
Women got privacy
and diseases like
diarrhea and vomiting
reduced considerably.
Most importantly, we
could get more sleep,
as we didn’t have to
worry to leave early morning
and our health improved as we
would not be holding our bladder
for long hours like earlier,’’ said
the beaming group of women of
my district. I have also seen men
come forward and contribute to
the construction of toilets. In fact,
they have gone out of their way to
get toilets constructed and used.
Not only this, men constructed
roads leading to their houses
all by themselves, spending
money in the range of Rs. 6000
to Rs. 7000. “We had
to make toilets in our
house and the terrain
of our area would
make it very difficult
for the raw material
to be transported
to our doorsteps
for construction. I,
therefore, got a JCB and
constructed the road
leading to my house,’’
said a visibly confident Nirmal
Kumar Damore. This confidence,
ecstasy and pride did not come
easy. A lot of people, ideas, and
hard work went into reaching
this stage.
The Rise of Local Entrepreneurship
Rajendra Rot juggles between farming and
artisanship. He heard about the toilet construction
and was impressed with the idea. An enterprising
young man, Rajendra also saw an opportunity to
earn money from toilet construction. He persuaded
the villagers to construct toilets and aided in
building over 500 toilets in the village. “There are
a few jobs in this world where one can carry out
social welfare activities and earn money as well. I
am trying to spread the message of safe sanitation
beyond Dungarpur as well,’’ he shared.
7

My Pathway to Success
The 100 Days Approach
With idea of 100 days Open
Defecation Free (ODF) campaign
was born after successful
demonstrations by the ODF
communities (Baron ka Sher,
Mundela) while piloting the
Sanitation Hygiene Advocacy
and Communication Strategy
(SHACS) in Bhichhiwara
block in 2014 by the District
Administration with the support
of UNICEF and FINISH,.
Figure I: The Rupaaro Dungarpur Journey
It was realised that post triggering:
• Communities generally pledge to eliminate open defecation
at the earliest.
• Collective drive cannot be maintained beyond 3-4 months,
without tangible results.
8

Taking a cue from the concept
of 1000 days continuum of care
(from a mother’s pregnancy to
a child attaining the age of 2
years), Swachh Bharat Mission,
team Dungarpur had set its own
goal of ‘Ruparoo Dungarpur’
wherein the target was to make
a cluster of Gram Panchayats
(GPs) ODF in 100 days, in phases.
Along the way, Dungarpur found
a lot of human resources in form
of the Nehru Yuva Kendra youth
to support five key flagship
schemes of the Government of
India, in 100 GPs, situated along
the national highway, as part
of the Punarjagran Yatra of the
Ministry of Sports and Youth
Affairs. Team Dungarpur, thus,
challenged themselves with
Mission ODF in 100 GPs covering
100,000 household in 100 days.
Subsequently, a District task force
was formed, which consisted of
Additional District Magistrate
(ADM), Chief Executive Officer
(CEO), Sub-Divisional Magistrate
(SDM) and Tehsildars under
the leadership of the District
Collector (DC). UNICEF and
FINISH provided the team with
key technical and operational
support along the way. The
discussions and brainstorming
sessions lead to the formulation
of the Operational and
Management Guidelines for
Ruparoo Dungarpur, keeping in
mind
• local context and capabilities
• evidences, learnings and
best practices of community
approaches
• blending of successful
demand and supply models.
Due to financial constraints, the
model could not be implemented
with Punarjagran Yatra in May-
June 2015 as it required Rs. 100
crore in the next 6 months. During
the lean period (lack of fund,
rainy season) of June – August
2015, the district successfully
channeled its positive energy in
consolidating and completing
on-going activities and payment
of outstanding advances. As per
agreed principle, the district did
not take up any new community
for triggering exercise.
Keeping our passion intact, ODF
drive was advocated again at
State level during the Collector’s
Conference in July 2015
successfully. We re-grouped and
revived our force and re-initiated
100 days ODF campaign in 33 GPs
of four blocks in September 2015
from which finally immersed 44
GPs in 4 months.
9

Sanitation Foot
soldiers-on-the-Street –
The Barefoot Champions
In order to trigger communities
and sustain the passion of ignited
minds towards ODF in 100 Gram
Panchayat (GPs), the district team
decided to create its own force
of motivators and practitioners.
To support the District
Administration for ODF mission,
UNICEF supported FINISH team
to identify 15 practitioners who
had successfully led Community
Approaches to
Total Sanitation
(CATS) processes
under the
Sanitation
and Hygiene
The Leader -
District Collector
District Task Force-5
DRG – 38
Natural Leaders – 36
Group of Youth
Volunteers,
Mason, Wardpanch
Sarpanch, DRG,
Sachiv, Supply Venders
BDO, BLOs as
Nodai Officer for
each GP
District
Collector
CEO-Zila
Parishad
DPC-SBM
in triggered communities.
It was envisaged that the above
mentioned 5 motivators named
as “Triggering incharge” would
move with each ‘Punarjagarn
Yatra Rath’, on Yatra Diwas, in
order to trigger each community
of a GP against open defecation.
Proceeding this, one trained
youth volunteer named as District
Resource Group (DRG) member
was stationed locally to support
two neighbouring GPs to carry
out post-triggering interventions.
They were
expected to
further identify
and select natural
leaders and early
movers into
Sarpanch – 43
Nodal Officers – 44
Ward Panch – 300
Masons – 400
Youth Volunteers - 600
Advocacy and Communication
Strategy (SHACS) pilot in
Bichhiwara block. The team
also asked NYK to select 50
dynamic youth volunteers from
its large pool of young members.
Thus the first batch of 5-day
CATS training was conducted
by locally present resource
persons including 15 motivators,
dedicated for triggering and 50
young NYK volunteers, dedicated
for facilitating follow-up actions
‘Nigrani Samiti in each triggered
community and facilitate followup
actions, construction and
use of toilet until his/her GP
became ODF within 100 days
or as otherwise pledged by the
community itself.
The District Administration
valued the consistent engagement
of DRGs at GP levels for ensuring
4S – viz. Skill, Scale, Speed and
Sustainability, and decided to
10

deploy DRG in each GP for 60 days.
In order to fill the gap of 50 such
persons, the district recognized
the impressive work of the youth
force who conducted Social
Audits of MGNREGA works in the
district in April - May 2015. The
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) gave
them the opportunity to serve
again as DRG. 5-day Community
Approaches to Total Sanitation
(CATS) training of 60 such auditors
were again conducted locally. The
District Collector also ensured
the mobilisation and training
10 District Level Officer (DLOs)/
Sub Divisional Level Officer
(SDLOs) for coordinating the CATS
processes of 10 GPs each on his
behalf. By 15 May 2015, the district
has created a strong local force of
100 DRGs, 20 Triggering in-charge
and 10 Nodal Officers who were
ready to raze a war against open
defecation in 100 GPs.
After the success of the first
phase, the district has created
a fleet of local champions and
become self-reliant. They are
now ready to train, trigger and
track 100 GPs of the second phase
and can also create thousands
such champions for the second
and third phases. They aim to
collectively realize the goal of
Ruparoo Dungarpur by March 2017
without external dependency.
These local champions can do
wonders for ODF+ interventions
as well.
11

Self-reliant on CATS Training
and focusing on-going
training sessions
As against the prevailing mode
of hiring an external CATS
expert agency at a high cost,
for imparting a 5-day CATS
training session to motivators
and Panchayati Raj Institutions
(PRIs) and 1-day CATS orientation
to District Level Officers (DLOs)/
Block Level Officers (BLOs),
the district team capitalised
the potential of State Resource
Group (SRG), its practitioners and
leaders – District Magistrate (DM),
Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM),
District Project Coordinator
(DPC), District Resource Group
(DRG) and partner organization
such as UNICEF and FINISH.
Existing District and Block
level review forums were also
capitalized for conducting a
series of need-based trainings
of different stakeholders. The
District Collector chaired the
following capacity building and
review sessions:
• Joint orientation of
Sarpanch, Sachiv, DRG and
Vendors
• Vendors meet
• NGO meet
• Fortnightly progress review
of ODF campaign with Nodal
Officer.
12

Validation of Baseline Survey
(BLS-2012)
Trained District Resource Groups
(DRGs) and Panchayati Raj
Institutions (PRIs) were engaged
in validation of households
covered under the Baseline
Survey (BLS). They finalized the
list of each Gram Panchayat (GP)
by deleting names of those who
were no longer available and
adding names of households
formed after 2012 or those who
qualified the eligibility criteria.
When required, the Block
Development Officer (BDO)
issued sanctions of the revised
list within 2 days to maintain
momentum.
Responsive System
The District Collector, Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) and
District Project Coordinator
(DPC) together, took all possible
and innovative measures to
make the systems of governance
responsive to the collective
demands of communities.
They kept themselves on an
evolutionary track to implement
the integrated demand and
supply package in each GP.
The district administration
utilized its channels to collect
information and evidence for
quick actions. Information was
collected from various sources.
Using existing social platform
(namely WhatsApp) two groups
were formed which included
the District Level Officers
(DLOs), Sub Divisional Level
Officers (SDLOs), Panchayati
Raj Institutions (PRIs), partners,
frontline workers and DRGs with
the objectives to provide them
with a common platform to share
views, ideas, thoughts, actions,
challenges, etc. and to review
progress and identify problems
in real-time. The Collector, CEO
and DPC-SBM administered both
the groups with utmost sincerity
and regularity and continue
to do so. They appreciated
successes, motivated champions
and highlighted concerns with
a lot of vigour. This democratic
decentralization created
terrific impact on the barefoot
champions by interacting with
the Collector and the CEO directly
through group posts, telephone
and in person, along with their
regular community interactions.
Open Defecation Elimination
Plan (ODEP)
Aimed at bringing all
stakeholders on board and to
facilitate structured actions at
village levels, the district team
prepared an ODEP of each Gram
Panchayat (GP) that covered
existing physical and financial
status, progress indicators,
weekly milestones for 100 days
13

and ward-wise details of PRIs,
natural leaders, Nigrani Samitis,
masons and youth volunteers for
neighbourhood.
Simplified Standard Operating
Procedures (SSOPs)
SSOPs were designed with the
support of UNICEF and FINISH
for facilitating community based
demand-supply interventions
during pre and post triggering,
follow-up and sustainability
phases in a time-bound
manner. Specific roles and
responsibilities of stakeholders
with corresponding timelines
and documentary requirements
across the ODF life cycle were
defined to help them structure
their work process and stay
focused.
Team Ruparoo Dungarpur
A horizontal institutional set-up
was established by the District
Collector and the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) by bringing in the
Magistrate to Motivator under
one umbrella of Team Ruparoo
Dungarpur. The Collector and
Nodal Officers donned the
hat of a Captain at the district
and GP levels, while UNICEF
and FINISH functioned as
managers. District level officers
ODF GP WITH SELF RELIANT MECHANISM OF SUSTAINED USAGE
Mason
Motivators
(Youth)
Nodal Officer
DRG
• 50 per GP (5
per ward, 10
per GP)
• Followup with
individual
households (20
per youth)
• Ensure pit
digging and
lining
• Ensure
availability
of masons, if
required
• Ensure linkages
with vendor,
if required
• Nos-1
• Regularly
monitor and
participate
in triggering,
followup activities
• Prepare monitoring
report
on weekly
basis
• Motivate PRI’s
and DRG
• NOS-1
• Trigger the
community
• Lead followup
initiatives
• Monitor
demand
• Handhold
the youth
groups and
surveillance
committee
The Ruparoo Dungarpur Team
14

comprising the Additional
District Magistrate (ADM), Chief
Executive Officer (CEO), District
Education Officer (DEO), Deputy
Director – Integrated Child
Development Services (DD-
ICDS), Superintending Engineer
– Public Health Department (SE-
PHED) and heads of other line
departments and sub-district
level officers that included Sub-
Divisional Magistrates (SDMs),
Tehsildars, Block Development
Officer (BDOs), Block Elementary
Education Officer (BEEO), Child
Development Project Officer
(CDPOs), etc. played the dual
role of Nodal Officers and also
leveraged support of their
concerned department for the
ODF campaign. They kept track
of the following actions:
• Fulfilling skill requirement of
communities to keep the fire
burning until ODF achieved.
• Identifying on-site problems
and bottlenecks and seeking
solutions.
• Maintaining the required
pace & scale by striking
balance between demand,
supply & mason
• Reviewing the processes
and outcome based on 5 key
indicators
• Timely on-line entry of the
outcomes and payment of
incentives.
Administrative, financial and
procedural expertise and
contacts of nodal officers further
smoothened the process of
implementation. Their regular
village visits, availability on
demand and newly acquired
community connect brought
transparency and quality in the
overall process.
Celebrating Open Defecation
Free (ODF)
The District Administration
focused on outcomes and
promoted Gram Panchayats
(GPs) and Nigrani Samitis
to organise massive Garv or
Gaurav Yatras (Walk of pride)
to celebrate their success. This
was celebrated according to
the local folk culture. It became
15

Collector for the first time ever.
This enhanced the trust and
goodwill of the government and
the systems of governance.
Benchmarking of twin-leachpit
toilet
a community led grand social
event in every GP, a first for any
GP. The District Administration,
Zila Parishad and MemberS
of Legislative Assembly
(MLAs) joined every Garv Yatra
organised by PRIs, community
leaders, Nigrani Samitis, women
and children for celebrating the
elimination of open defecation
and for setting a new social norm
of ODF in the community. In
order to bring momentum to the
concept, the District Collector,
with his team of champions
participated in ‘Garv Yatra’ and
ODF celebration of a village.
The presence of the District
Collector in the community
meant a lot to them. Many of
the community members had
seen and interacted with the
For a revolution to start, a
feeling of selflessness and a
drive for change, are imperative
amongst the community and
participants. But its sustenance
is also as important and every
individual’s reason to participate
in the revolution should also
sustain itself. In carrying
forward the Ruparoo Dungarpur
initiative, the right reasons
made for the right direction
and the right movement.
Therefore, despite being an
issue of personal aspiration, a
minimum quality standards for
toilets were fixed. This helped in
parallel construction approach
interventions being carried out at
GP levels and in mainstreaming
the issue of materials, quality,
standards etc.
Mason Network
Ruparoo Dungarpur focused
on availability, capacity and
sustained engagement of
masons from the beginning
itself. Masons’ skill sets and
their perspectives were given
foremost importance. Instead
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of GP based mobilization, wardwise
interventions as part of
micro-planning took place. It
was important for the demand of
the toilet to match the demand
of the local masons. In order to
achieve the deadline set for the
community, a minimum of 6 to 7
masons were required locally in
each ward to cater to the needs.
Dungarpur being a tribal area has
abundant unskilled artisans who
were trained on field training
modules by 100 odd master
masons. Wages were ascertained
for masons and labourers, which
in turn spurted in employment
opportunities locally, thus
solving the age old problem of
migration. Over 1,00,000 days of
skilled worker were thus created.
Over 1500 masons were engaged
to complete the uphill task of
making 44 GPs ODF.
Mason as Motivator
For large scale schemes such
as the Swachh Bharat Mission,
it is always a challenge to
realise individual aspirations
collectively at all levels -
beneficiary, masons, motivators,
etc. Community mobilisation
and technology transfer tools
at formal gathering often
proves insufficient and requires
further individual/family level
counselling. In order to ensure
the same, a team of engaged
masons was utilised in not
only advocating construction
techniques of toilet but also
the significance, benefits and
maintenance of the same. A
mason typically spends 3 to
4 days in a household while
constructing the toilet and this
translates into a time window
of 24- 30 hours. Masons were
motivated to act as motivator as
well, on issues such as
• The importance to have a
toilet near one’s house
• The different toilet
technologies and why two
pits are important
• Why leach pits are the best
option and why pits will not
be filled in the next 6 years
• The significance of junction
chamber and its operational
modalities.
This innovation led to acceptance
and usage by a majority of people
and proved to be a boon in the
construction and usage of toilets
in the community.
Community Processes:
Seven day Morning follow-up
campaign:
In order to boost community
processes towards ODF and to
ensure zero tolerance for open
defecation, the district launched
an innovative 7-day morning
follow-up campaign, wherein
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all the DRGs, Nodal Officers and
the Collector himself visited
defecation sites of focus GPs at
5 in the morning and used all
naming, faming and shaming
techniques. It has a tremendous
impact on the psyche of the people
and acted as a final blow. People
realized the selfless passion of
team Ruparoo Dungarpur and
appreciated it. This was a result
of the phenomenal success of
this campaign and augmented
the confidence and passion of
the team members. Through
this activity, the people also
started believing in the power of
community approach.
Ownership:
This is a critical ingredient
for quality and sustainability
of the construction, usage
and operation & maintenance
of household toilets. After
triggering sessions, the
community was expected to
dig and line their twin pits in
order to get incentives in kind
– hardware material. Merely
their verbal assurance to build
a toilet was not considered.
Lined pits are considered as a
symbol of demand generated
or a triggered household.
These households received all
possible support from the GP
and the local team. For example,
delivery of the material supply
at their door step, provision of
masons, technical knowhow,
etc. As a result of this approach
the location of toilets in the
household premises/courtyard
needed special attention.
Despite the age old beliefs and
myth surrounding defecating
in the open, people constructed
toilets besides their houses or
in the angan (courtyard) so that
they all could access it easily at
all times, especially during the
night and rainy seasons.
My Happy Toilets Have
• Two pits and a junction box
• Tiles on all the walls
• A water storage tank
• Houses attached to them
• Bathrooms alongside in many cases
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The Mountain Man of Dungarpur
Following the footsteps of Dashrath Manji, a poor
labourer, who carved a mountain to make a path
from his village to the city in Bihar, an ex-serviceman
from a remote tribal village in Dungarpur has made
an approach road to facilitate the Swachh Bharat
Mission implementation in his Gram Panchayat.
Retired army personal Laxman Katara has earned
the recognition as the ‘Mountain Man’ of Wagad (the
local name for the Banswara - Dungarpur belt) after
he carved out an approach road leading to a hillock
in Bhuwali village of Palwada gram panchyat in the
district. Katara did this to facilitate transportation
of construction material to build toilets in his village
under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
The District Administration has embarked on a
campaign of making 37 gram panchayats open
defecation free and Palwada features on the list.
The District Collector Indrajeet Singh during one of
his monitoring visit came to know about Laxmanlal
Katara who is presently the Up-Sarpanch (village
headman) of the village. Lauding his efforts, the
District Collector named him “Mountain Man”.
Nodal officer Vikram Singh Ahara during his visit
observed, “Few houses in the villages which are
situated on a hillock didn’t have an approach road
which had been an obstacle in transportation of
construction material. Instead of looking out for
government supported, Katara motivated people to
collect money to carve out a road for themselves”.
Today all the households in the village have a
toilet. Katara and his team go around the area
every morning to sensitize people on the hazards
of open defecation.
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Dungarpur Today
Today, I, Dungarpur can boast 44 Open Defecation Free (ODF) Gram
Panchayats (GPs) created over a period of 4 months. This feat is a
stepping stone towards my dreams of becoming an ODF Dungarpur by
2017. The total household toilet coverage in the district was 4.52% (as
on 31/08/2015) and the current total coverage is 22.70% HH with toilet
in total. The coverage was 4.34 % at the initiation of this initiative and
now 44 GPs (out of 291) have achieved ODF status with 100% coverage.
A total of more than 20,000 new toilets have been constructed by the
community. A total of 20 new vendors/suppliers with a collective
capacity of around 5000 toilets material has come up. A transparent
and robust monitoring mechanism, which is capable of handling
10,000 toilets per month via a methodology of cross verification,
micro-level data capturing formats, synergies with the Education
and ICDS Departments are in place. A district-level database of more
than 1500 masons has also been established as part of this initiative.
Table I: List of Open Defecation Free Gram Panchayats, Dungarpur
SN Block Gram Panchayat
Total HHs in
GP
1 BICHIWARA MAHIPALPURA 859 859
2 BAROTHI 854 854
3 SANCHIYA 985 985
4 BILPAN 688 688
5 BHEHNA 741 741
6 JELANA 913 913
7 JHINJHAVA 818 818
8 AMAJARA 1116 1116
9 BICHHIWARA 1675 1675
10 JALUKUA 799 799
11 SHISHOD 1489 1489
Block Total 10937 10937
HH have
toilet facility
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SN Block Gram Panchayat
Total HHs in
GP
12 DOVRA PUNALI 2590 2590
13 HATHAI 1196 1196
14 HIRATA 1097 1097
15 RAGELA 1115 1115
16 ASELA 1505 1505
17 ANTRI 1136 1136
18 DOZA 956 956
19 FALONJ 1438 1438
20 RAGHUNATHPURA 918 918
21 KAHARI 1106 1106
Total 13057 13057
22 DUNGARPUR THANA 853 853
23 CHAKMAHUDI 794 794
24 KANKARADARA 701 701
25 KHEDA KACHHA-
WARA
872 872
26 DEVAL KHAS 1229 1229
27 VAGADARI 969 969
28 PALVADA 1126 1126
29 SURPUR 978 978
30 BORI 978 978
31 METALI 708 708
Total 9208 9208
HH have
toilet facility
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SN Block Gram Panchayat
Total HHs in
GP
32 JHONTHARI VENJA 813 813
33 KARAWARA 999 999
34 RENTA 1017 1017
35 GORADA 804 804
36 GENJI 976 976
37 MAHUDI 764 764
38 VIKASNAGAR 836 836
Total 6209 6209
39 Galiyakot Ghanta Ka Gav 777 777
40 Aspur Aspur 860 860
41 Sabla Pindawal 1099 1099
42 Chikhali Badgama 781 781
43 Sagwara Barbodniya 1029 1029
44 Simalwara DHAMBOLA 1027 1027
Grand Total 44984 44984
HH have
toilet facility
Dungarpur Tomorrow
A total of 77 Gram Panchayats (GPs) will be taken up in the second
phase under this initiative, starting April 2016. This will include
the remaining GPs of the three blocks of Dovra, Bicchiwara and
Dungarpur and 5 GPs each from the other four blocks. A sustained
monitoring mechanism coupled with SLWM implementation in all
the GPs together with continued engagement of the Surveillance
Committee will also form a part of this phase. Further engagements
for DRG’s, nodal officers, etc. will be ensured in this phase as well.
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Processes in Place for the Second Phase of
Rupaaro Dungarpur
1. Situational analysis, local planning and setting milestones:
GP reviews their sanitation profile and prepares an Open
Defecation Elimination Plan. They list out details of motivators,
masons, triggering dates and monitors. GP sets their fortnightly
milestones of each community/ village for tracking collective
demand and community supply requirements on four indicators
i.e. dug pits, lined pits, materials supplied and toilet constructed.
2. Stakeholders’ participation and partnerships: Systems in place
for identifying, training and engaging CATS-RPs, 50 youth
volunteers for motivation, 50 masons and 1-2 reliable supply
agencies for ensuring construction per GP. District is fostering
strategic partnerships with effective CBOs/NGOs that have
network of village level institutions like SHGs, VDCs, JFM
Committees, etc. for supporting CATS in their area of operations.
3. Community triggering and consistent follow-up actions linked
with local supply solutions: CATS-RP triggers GPs as per ODEP
followed by formation of surveillance committees and its
linkage with youth volunteers and leaders. School triggering
is also being done for engaging children as agents of change.
Regular morning-evening follow up conducted by the children,
women and men surveillance committees. Each group of
volunteer and mason is supposed to make 20-25 households
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ODF within 100 days or to the minimum 2 toilets/ODF HHs
per week. Households are expected to construct and use
their toilets. If any HH wish to take support of GP/vendors for
material supply, their demand is being considered only when
they dug & lined twin pits. Expert agency/CBOs/vendors/PRIs
reiterate toilet technologies and design options at local level.
4. Monitoring and quality control: Other than PRIs and
surveillance committees, district/block level officers have also
been placed as nodal officers in every 3-4 GPs for mentoring/
monitoring community mobilization efforts, tracking progress,
on-site problem seeking and solving, quality assurance of
supplies & construction (toilet technology transfer) and also
sample verification of toilets use. Daily updates from GPs on
social media platform such as WhatsApp and weekly reviews
of process and progress at GP and block. Fortnightly district
level reviews by the District Magistrate (DM)/ Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) through video conferencing.
5. Monthly meetings of the District Sanitation Mission, real-time
data entry by the GP using android based mobile application.
The District and block follow a Standard Operating Procedures
(SOP) for faster fund flow to the intended beneficiaries in 15
days.
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