Woman panchayat 'live broadcasts' names of villagers who defecate in the open

Desperate times call for desperate measures. If cynics thought the problem of open defecation could not be solved in India, a woman panchayat in Chauthiya village in Madhya Pradesh has proven the cynics wrong. [caption id=“attachment_2044187” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] In the village, the details of a resident on way to openly defecate in the open are broadcast ’live’ on a public address system, according to Hindustan Times. Yes, you read that right. So everytime a villager takes the trademark ‘lota’ and heads towards the field, their details and even their activity and movement is reported along with a running commentary. “We tried our best to get them to use the toilets. First we started taking photographs of offenders on mobile phones and made them public. Then we tried to convey the message to elders through schoolchildren. But some people continued with this habit. So we decided to try this,” HT quoted sarpanch Khusli Bai as saying. The report also said that the entire system of broadcast is very organised as it consists of a 12-member committee, which includes women, to spot people who openly defecate. The members are even equipped with torches and mobile phones. In an almost espionage-style mechanism, they inform a ‘control room’ a the panchayat bhawan which then announces the names of those openly defecating. It seems that local administration bodies like the village panchayats are taking inspiration from the government. NDA, under the aegis of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, undertook a significant journey in 2014 to make the country free from open defecation under an ambitious plan of around Rs 2 lakh crore launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The year gone by also saw the government deciding to implement the rural water supply for Low Income States (RWSSP-LIS) of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh with World Bank assistance over a period of six years (from 2013-14 to 2019-20). The project aims to improve the piped water supply for people. The Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) also aims at attaining a 100 percent open defecation free India by 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. (With inputs from PTI)