The Total Sanitation Campaign is taking clean sanitation to rural households, making a quality difference to their lives.
Two silent revolutions are sweeping rural India. One, of mobile telephones, primarily pushed by the aggressive private service providers, and the second, that of sanitation driven by the rule-bound, governmental agencies with non-governmental organisations taking the campaign forward in spite of the arguments of the future beneficiaries.
[…] It was West Bengal that took the lead in initiating sanitation drives in its villages and is targeted to become the first State in the country to achieve total sanitation by 2012.
[…] The Total Sanitation Campaign was initiated in 2001 with fund commitment up to Rs. 14,000 crore, covering almost all the districts in the country. The Nirmal Gram Puraskar awards were also initiated in 2003 to promote the concept of sanitation.
Behavioural barriers are a major hurdle as the benefits are not widely understood. “When I first approached the villagers in 2001 to supplement the government funds to construct a toilet in their homes, it seemed an impossible task. Ultimately I had to promote sanitation and hygiene habits among the children at the local anganwadi centre and school who then influenced their families,” explains Mashqura Begum, the driving force behind the sanitation campaign in the Muslim-dominated Hadipur Jhikra-I Gram Panchayat. It took her several years to convince women about the benefits of having a toilet before they agreed to pay.
The Total Sanitation Campaign has also changed the face of predominantly-Tribal dominated East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. The Government Middle School at Manpur in Potka block claims to be the first in the State to have an incinerator for disposal of sanitary waste. Constructed a few months ago on an experimental basis, with the school providing the raw material, better sanitation facilities [have lead to] an increase in the attendance of adolescent girls. [T]he 11-member Bal Sansad or Child Cabinet […] has set up a “Bal Kosh” (Children’s Fund) with donation and the money is spent on fulfilling the requirements of the students.
Read more: Aarti Dhar, The Hindu, 01 Feb 2009
Sanitation Updates 
TSC has made good effort for promoting Rural health by promoting Household latrines. It has taken timely decison to shift its approach from promoting Community latrines to household latrines. But it should concentrate in building up a mechanism to see why it is not getting success. As per my observation, the TSC project personnel should announce of its scheme in such a way that people decide instantly. In rural India women do not take decisions on financial issues. It is indeed essential to confirm people’s particpation by identifying a different approach that supports a decentralized development and guards other elements that may disturb the programme.
We have your solution, but we struggle to get response from leaders in Mumbia and Dehli. We are looking for serious people who want to partner us in addressing the sanitation issues in India
eco sanitation seems to be a solution to many of india’s problems. Why doesn’t the organisation approach renowned NGO like the Barefoot college in Rajasthan and use their expertise demystyfying knowledge so that it becomes more accessible to the poor and illiterate?