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Maryada at stake
The country might have witnessed a tremendous growth in almost all sectors, but it cannot be said with the same degree of certainty that this growth has been an inclusive one. Or, how does one explain the absence of such basic facility as toilet in households spread across a larger part of Madhya Pradesh. There have been instances of newly married women walking out on their husbands as there was no toilet in the houses of the in-laws, writes Girish Sharma
The country can boast of developments in almost all the sectors, but people in rural Madhya Pradesh still lack facility of toilets.
There have been quite a few instances in the recent past, when newly married women refused to stay in the villages of their in-laws, because there was no toilet in the house.
In fact, Madhya Pradesh lags far behind regarding this facility. Almost 71.2 per cent households in the state do not have toilets and this figure is even higher in rural areas where around 87 per cent people have no option but to go in for open defecation. It's not a question of dignity only, especially to women and girls who very often face embarrassment and sometimes harassment, but is a matter of real concern in terms of health. Indeed, open defecation is a major cause of diarrhoeal diseases, claiming nearly 1,000 children each day in the country as a whole. Over ninety-seven per cent households in Singrauli district do not have toilets in their houses. Tikamgarh district follows closely with 96 per cent, Alirajpur (95 per cent), Anuppur (95.6 per cent) and Sidhi (95.5 per cent).
Districts like Indore and Bhind have done better, still, over 50 per cent of the households in the two district do not have toilets in their homes. It's not just the scarcity of toilets that causes concern; the few that there are, are shabbily constructed. Recently, a five-year-old child died in Gohad block of Bhind district when a wall of the newly constructed school toilet collapsed on him. He died while four other students were injured.
UNICEF in partnership with district administration of Guna and Shivpuri has set up child-friendly toilets in which the height of the toilets and hand washing facilities are at an appropriate level making them easy to use for younger students.
The situation in girls schools are as distressing and there have been instances when girls dropped out of school simply because the school did not have toilet facilities.
When the Government woke up to the problem, toilets were indeed constructed but considering the huge number of schools in the state, it would be quite some time before each school in the state has toilet facilities.
More than 57,000 schools in the State do not have separate toilets for boys and girls. Out of this, at least 52,000 schools should have constructed separate toilets by the last day of this year, the department sources said.
So the deadline has lapsed and the task is as yet incomplete. According to department sources, almost 60 per cent of the work had been completed while 40 per cent remained to be executed.
The Supreme Court on January 13 had extended its December 31 deadline to March 31 for construction of separate and permanent toilets for boys and girls in all schools across India and reiterated that it was an essential part of the right to education of children. However, the task is yet to be completed.
The Rajya Shiksha Kendra officials claimed that toilets had been constructed in all the primary schools, while some middle schools were left. Sources said there were at least 18,000 middle schools that had no toilet facilities.
Some good initiatives have also been begun by women self-help groups in Shivpuri district of the state where women are encouraging other communities to construct toilets and also to use them. Besides, the state has also launched the Maryada campaign in an effort to engage women in sanitation. This is being supported by UNICEF.
As for individual efforts, a few months back Anita Bai Narre from tribal-dominated Betul district was invited by the President of India as she had refused to stay at her in-laws place which was without a toilet. Anita was married to Shivram Narre in May last year, but returned to her parents' house after discovering that her in-laws house lacked the facility of an indoor toilet.
Her insistence on having a toilet at her in-laws place compelled her husband to take up the issue with the local panchayat. The panchayat came forward to garner funds for construction of toilets. She returned to her in-laws place only after a toilet was built.
Narayan Nagre, in Harda got married to Chhaya in June 2012.
Chhaya, a resident of Ranhai village, upon reaching Harda, her in-laws’ place, found there was no toilet in her husband's residence. She had to go along with other family members to the nearby jungles to defecate in the open. This led to fights in which both received injuries.
Narayan said, “The non-availability of toilet has been a cause of fight for the past one year. Every other day, Chhaya would go to her parents place citing absence of toilet as the reason. Yesterday, when I had gone to take her back,
I was attacked.”
The country might have witnessed a tremendous growth in almost all sectors, but it cannot be said with the same degree of certainty that this growth has been an inclusive one. Or, how does one explain the absence of such basic facility as toilet in households spread across a larger part of Madhya Pradesh. There have been instances of newly married women walking out on their husbands as there was no toilet in the houses of the in-laws, writes Girish Sharma
The country can boast of developments in almost all the sectors, but people in rural Madhya Pradesh still lack facility of toilets.
There have been quite a few instances in the recent past, when newly married women refused to stay in the villages of their in-laws, because there was no toilet in the house.
In fact, Madhya Pradesh lags far behind regarding this facility. Almost 71.2 per cent households in the state do not have toilets and this figure is even higher in rural areas where around 87 per cent people have no option but to go in for open defecation. It's not a question of dignity only, especially to women and girls who very often face embarrassment and sometimes harassment, but is a matter of real concern in terms of health. Indeed, open defecation is a major cause of diarrhoeal diseases, claiming nearly 1,000 children each day in the country as a whole. Over ninety-seven per cent households in Singrauli district do not have toilets in their houses. Tikamgarh district follows closely with 96 per cent, Alirajpur (95 per cent), Anuppur (95.6 per cent) and Sidhi (95.5 per cent).
Districts like Indore and Bhind have done better, still, over 50 per cent of the households in the two district do not have toilets in their homes. It's not just the scarcity of toilets that causes concern; the few that there are, are shabbily constructed. Recently, a five-year-old child died in Gohad block of Bhind district when a wall of the newly constructed school toilet collapsed on him. He died while four other students were injured.
UNICEF in partnership with district administration of Guna and Shivpuri has set up child-friendly toilets in which the height of the toilets and hand washing facilities are at an appropriate level making them easy to use for younger students.
The situation in girls schools are as distressing and there have been instances when girls dropped out of school simply because the school did not have toilet facilities.
When the Government woke up to the problem, toilets were indeed constructed but considering the huge number of schools in the state, it would be quite some time before each school in the state has toilet facilities.
More than 57,000 schools in the State do not have separate toilets for boys and girls. Out of this, at least 52,000 schools should have constructed separate toilets by the last day of this year, the department sources said.
So the deadline has lapsed and the task is as yet incomplete. According to department sources, almost 60 per cent of the work had been completed while 40 per cent remained to be executed.
The Supreme Court on January 13 had extended its December 31 deadline to March 31 for construction of separate and permanent toilets for boys and girls in all schools across India and reiterated that it was an essential part of the right to education of children. However, the task is yet to be completed.
The Rajya Shiksha Kendra officials claimed that toilets had been constructed in all the primary schools, while some middle schools were left. Sources said there were at least 18,000 middle schools that had no toilet facilities.
Some good initiatives have also been begun by women self-help groups in Shivpuri district of the state where women are encouraging other communities to construct toilets and also to use them. Besides, the state has also launched the Maryada campaign in an effort to engage women in sanitation. This is being supported by UNICEF.
As for individual efforts, a few months back Anita Bai Narre from tribal-dominated Betul district was invited by the President of India as she had refused to stay at her in-laws place which was without a toilet. Anita was married to Shivram Narre in May last year, but returned to her parents' house after discovering that her in-laws house lacked the facility of an indoor toilet.
Her insistence on having a toilet at her in-laws place compelled her husband to take up the issue with the local panchayat. The panchayat came forward to garner funds for construction of toilets. She returned to her in-laws place only after a toilet was built.
Narayan Nagre, in Harda got married to Chhaya in June 2012.
Chhaya, a resident of Ranhai village, upon reaching Harda, her in-laws’ place, found there was no toilet in her husband's residence. She had to go along with other family members to the nearby jungles to defecate in the open. This led to fights in which both received injuries.
Narayan said, “The non-availability of toilet has been a cause of fight for the past one year. Every other day, Chhaya would go to her parents place citing absence of toilet as the reason. Yesterday, when I had gone to take her back,
I was attacked.”
