More than 70 percent of India’s over 1 billion people live in half a million rural villages where water-borne diseases are a major health problem. Although 30% of the households have latrines but only 15% people actually use them. That means 85% people defecate in open which according to the health experts is the cause of 80% of the diseases. The statistics shows that there is enough money that has been pumped in for the latrine construction, but the project success depends on the behavior change rather than the availability of latrines. Community led total sanitation scheme thus aims at bringing about a behavioral change and does not make construction of latrines as a goal.

With the aim of making our focused villages Open Defecation Free (ODF), the community mobilization program of IRRAD held a Community led total sanitation campaign also known as “Triggering Campaign’ in Notki, a village in Nagina Block of Mewat. This campaign is the joint effort of the local governance, IRRAD and enthusiast community members. The objective behind this campaign was not just to get the behavior change in the community but also help them to become self reliant to further their own development.

The triggering drive began with the people of Notki by leading them to the dirtiest place of the village where human excreta was lying in abundance. This place was contiguous to the school building which is supposed to be the cleanest place in the village. The discussion was initiated and people were put to shame for their defecating in the open. The spark of change was ignited within the villagers without much emphasizing on the construction of latrines. The villagers discussed the issue for days, speaking to bring about the change.

Soon a dramatic turn of events took place and the tremendous impact of the campaign was evident as we saw latrine pits in the periphery of each household which were being excavated by men and women, youth and children. The Village Champion, Salammudin was continuously posed with questions as to when will the construction of latrines begin. 35 pits were excavated in just two days!!! IRRAD has been working in the village for the last three years and a total of 20 household latrines existed in the village of 160 households so far. What had inspired them over night? It was the change of behavior that came in and now every household was competing to have the latrine constructed first.

The Village sarpanch and 10 community members were also taken to the villages of Firojpur Rajpur and Garhi Binoda (both in Hathin block to demonstrate the change.) The people of Notki saw the end result and also met with ADC Mewat (Additional Deputy Commissioner) which fed in more conviction.

The Village sarpanch and 10 community members were also taken to the villages of Firojpur Rajpur and Garhi Binoda (both in Hathin block to demonstrate the change.) The people of Notki saw the end result and also met with ADC Mewat (Additional Deputy Commissioner) which fed in more conviction.

When the sarpanch was asked “who is constructing the Latrines?” He promptly responded “Ham bana rahe hain-(we are constructing).” The target to finish construction of latrines of part one of the village with 50 households is nearing completion.

If all goes well Notki will be the first open defecation free village in Mewat and we hope that this initiative will go a long way in making all the villages of Mewat Open Defecation Free villages.

Any program when gets support from the local government, the local active NGO and community reaps faster and long lasting results. Community Led Total Sanitation Campaign is a successful example.