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INTRODUCTION
The President of India, Mr. Ram Nath Kovind, has launched a nationwide
sanitation campaign “Swachhta Hi Seva” (Cleanliness is Service) on September 15,
2017 and administered the Swachhta Hi Seva pledge whereby the nation has resolved
to create a clean, healthy and new India. The President has said that the nation is
fighting a decisive battle for cleanliness and hygiene and cleanliness is not the
responsibility of sanitation personnel and government departments alone. It is a multi-
stakeholder national movement. The Swachhta Hi Seva has been envisaged as a
fortnight, ending on Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, 2017, as part of the Swachh Bharat
Mission, which is aimed at achieving a clean and open defecation free India by October
2, 2019. The objectives are generating demand for toilets leading to their construction
and sustained use by all household members, promoting better hygiene behaviour
among the population and improving cleanliness by initiating solid and liquid waste
management projects. In the last three years, under the Swachh Bharat Mission,
48,264,304 toilets were constructed. The number of Open Defecation Free (ODF)
villages reached 2,38,966 and the individual toilet coverage increased from 42% in
2014 to 64% in 2017. Five States have declared themselves ODF and the Ministry of
Drinking Water and Sanitation has said that the progress achieved is encouraging to
reach the goal of an Open Defecation Free India by October 2, 2019.
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The Swachh Bharat Mission represents a national movement with diverse
stakeholders comprising of Union Ministries, State Governments, local institutions,
non-government and semi-government agencies, corporates, NGOs, voluntary
organizations and the media. This approach is based on the Prime Minister Mr.
Narendra Modi's call that Swachhta has to be everyone’s business and not only that of
the sanitation departments. A host of special initiatives and projects have come out in
quick time. The Inter-Ministerial Projects included Swachhta Pakhwadas, Namami
Gange, Swachhta Action Plan, Swachh Swasth Sarvatra campaign, School Sanitation
drives, Anganwadi Sanitation drives, Railway Sanitation etc. The inter-sectoral
collaborations included Swachh Iconic Places, Corporate Partnership, Inter Faith
Cooperation, Media engagement and Parliament engagement. Swachhta Action Plans
were developed by 76 Union Ministries and departments and web-based portal was
developed to monitor progress and highlight implementation status. Women
Swachhagrahis were appointed and Swachh Shakti Awards were instituted to further
enhance women involvement with the program. The success of Swachh Bharat Mission
has made a big difference to the lives of village communities, as they have accessibility
to sanitary toilets in their own households and do not have to travel distances in the
dark to relieve themselves. The health risks of open defecation have also been greatly
reduced by having a toilet in the house.
3
The Prime Minister has called upon the nation to create an environment of
cleanliness in the entire country so that the coming October 2, the third anniversary of
the Swachh Bharat Mission and Gandhi Jayanti, can be celebrated in a befitting
manner. During his “Mann Ki Baat” address on August 27, 2017, he called upon the
people and urged all non-government organizations, schools, colleges, social, cultural
and political leaders, corporates, government officials, Collectors and Sarpanches, to
accelerate Swachhta activities during the September 15-October 2 period, when the
Swachhata Hi Sewa campaign is operative. The Ministry of Drinking Water and
Sanitation shall be launching soon a section on MyGov.in wherein people, after
constructing their toilets and undertaking other Swachhta-related activities, can register
their name and the name of the beneficiary family, whom they helped.
In view of the significance attached and a high priority accorded to the
Swachhta Hi Sewa campaign as a nation-wide movement, the UNICEF-Rajasthan Field
Office has decided to focus on environment cleanliness and Open Defecation Free
Rajasthan in the true spirit of the campaign. As part of its activities to promote the ODF
status, the UNICEF collaborated with the Centre for Mass Communication (CMC),
Rajasthan University, for organizing a students' rally on the university campus and a
“Sankalp Sammelan” where the participants would suggest strategies and action plans
for achieving total sanitation and take a pledge to adopt and promote the cleanliness
4
habits in their surroundings. The UNICEF's collaboration with CMC over the last three
years has already yielded huge results. The university is leading the way forward for
assessing the need and reviewing the curriculum on development journalism for post-
graduate students. Additionally in the process, the partnership has also been able to
develop a learning module for mid-level and senior Media Practitioners as well as for
Faculty Development Programme. More than 25 universities have been associated in
this mammoth task and has brought together the academia and media practitioners to
dialogue and carve out a guided pathway for responsible reporting and ethical
development journalism. The CMC, which has been primarily engaged in teaching
post-graduate programmes, has entered into a partnership with UNICEF-Rajasthan
since 2015 and it has turned out to be a most appropriate collaboration to initiate,
mobilize and carry forward the dialogue and deliberations on the essence of
development journalism and its way forward.
During various consultations, the CMC was successful in bringing together the
country's senior-most academicians and practising journalists as well as senior editors
and media professionals to make a significant contribution towards finalizing the
development journalism curriculum and planning of lessons for media students,
faculties and the mainstream journalists. This initiative has enabled them to contribute
towards quality and ethical journalism, especially on the issues of social concern
5
affecting the marginalized sections of society and farmers, peasants and labourers. A
development journalism course module has been evolved through this partnership. It
has complete lesson planning and referencing with the potential for integration into the
ongoing curriculum of mass communication and journalism, especially in the paper on
development journalism at Rajasthan University and other State and Central
Universities across the country. The partnership with UNICEF has been instrumental in
initiating and facilitating establishment of the much-valued coalition on development
journalism. It has successfully generated a dialogue to promote development journalism
among the media practitioners, especially journalists and stringers working at the
grassroots, and academicians. The CMC has also involved policy makers in its
discourses on healthy practices in journalism.
A series of workshops and
round table conferences have
been organised during the last
three years with the focus on
evolving an effective course
curriculum in order to
promote the practice of
development journalism in
the media by influencing both
the policy makers and grassroots journalists. An emphasis has been laid on developing
strategies and implementation tools for development communication, which can be
taken up for orienting both students and practising journalists. The capacity building
and training of media persons on ethical reporting and promoting development
journalism started with an All India Media Educators' Conference organized in Jaipur
from April 2 to 4, 2015. It was followed by the Second All India Media Educators'
Conference held at Amity University, Jaipur, from April 22 to 24, 2016. Since 2015, a
number of seminars, conferences and other events were organized in Jaipur, which
strengthened the partnership between CMC and UNICEF. A “Dialogue on
Development Journalism”, organized on February 2, 2017, helped in creating an
interface with the policy makers and those in the media education for making a long-
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term impact on the relevant aspects of development journalism education. The
discourses of all these events were placed before the policy makers and academic
management for a review of the courses presently available. Though the initial focus
was on the universities in Rajasthan, the discussions were later initiated on a wider
scale to suit the requirements at the national level.
After the successful completion of the previous events, a three-day residential
workshop was organized in Jaipur for the mid-career journalists to build up their
capacity for reporting on the subjects of development journalism. The CMC in a
collaborative partnership with UNICEF-Rajasthan invited a group of about 30 media
professionals from leading news organizations mostly from the small towns of
Rajasthan and facilitated a comprehensive learning and experience sharing exercise for
them during the three days of the workshop from August 12 to 14, 2017. The editors of
different media organizations also deputed two journalists each to participate in it.
After the completion of the first workshop in Jaipur, a similar workshop was organized
for the second batch of media persons in Jodhpur on August 25 to 27, 2017 and
thereafter a seven-day-long residential workshop was organized for the media students
in Jaipur from September 8 to 14, 2017.
7
The half-day event on “Swachhta Hi Seva: Swachhta Yuva Diwas” was planned
for Wednesday, September 20, 2017, in the shape of a rally with the participation of
students from the university, other colleges, NSS, and NCC, which was to be followed
by a Sankalp Sammelan to share the progress of the efforts of the Swachh Bharat
Mission in Rajasthan. The distinguished persons comprising the Rajasthan Rural
Development and Panchayati Raj Minister, Mr. Rajendra Singh Rathore, Vice-
Chancellor of Rajasthan University, Prof. R. K. Kothari, political representatives,
government departments, teachers and students from colleges and university and
international organizations and civil society organizations were invited to the
programme. It was planned that the programme would end with a pledge taking
ceremony to use the lessons learnt in Swachh Bharat Mission and join together to
sustain a better behaviour for sanitation.
STUDENTS' RALLY ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
A large number of participants, including the students of CMC and other
faculties and departments of Rajasthan University as well as the students of NSS and
NCC and other colleges in the city, such as the Veer Balika Mahila Mahavidyalaya,
8
gathered outside the Manviki Peeth Auditorium in Rajasthan University on September
20, 2017 morning for observing the “Swachhta Hi Seva: Swachh Yuva Diwas”. Apart
from the students, others who assembled on the occasion were the Head of CMC, Prof.
Sanjeev Bhanawat, and other faculty members, functionaries of different departments
of the university, UNICEF Communication and Advocacy Specialist Ms. Suchorita
Bardhan and other Specialists Ms. Manjari Pant, Mr. Nanak Shivdasani and a large
number of print and electronic media persons from different newspapers and television
news channels. It was an occasion for jubilation as well as taking a pledge to keep the
surroundings clean and inculcate a habit of adopting sanitation, while completely
rejecting open defecation. The rally was also an occasion to send across the message of
Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) which has emerged as a credible method of
doing away with open defecation and achieving the ODF status in developing
countries. Amid the crowd of rallyists, there were some professional singers who
entertained the participants through their inspirations songs and slogans and kept them
focused on the theme of the rally.
The Vice-Chancellor of Rajasthan University, Prof. R. K. Kothari, was
welcomed at the venue with the presentation of a stole and his presence was described
9
as an inspiration for the participants, mainly the students, who could take up sanitation
in their daily routine along with the academic pursuits. As Prof. Kothari flagged off the
massive rally at the Manviki Peeth, other disting uished persons also joined him in
showing the sign to the participants through the movement of flag. The flag carried the
emblem of Swachh Bharat Mission and the slogans for Swachhta Hi Sewa. With the
students holding banners and placards in their hands and raising slogans generating
awareness on the subject of sanitation, the rally wound its way through the roads in the
university premises. The logos on the banners had a special significance as the ODF
mission in Rajasthan was branded ‘Swachh Rajasthan’ with an exclusive logo that
people could easily associate with. Following this, districts developed their own logos
and taglines using local words that conveyed the intent of the mission. The logo and
taglines are consistently used in all IEC activities. Chokho Churu, Banko Bikaner,
Garwilo Mewar, Jagmag Jhalawar, Ujiyaro Baran are some examples of branding done
by DSMs. In many cases, these logos are painted on the walls of toilets as recognition
of the efforts made by households and inspire others to have them painted on their
walls too.
The rallyists stopped over briefly in front of different departments and faculties
while raising slogans and proceeded towards the CMC building. Along with them, a
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sound system was travelling in an auto-rickshaw and the slogans and songs were being
sung on the microphone. The banners and placards carried by the participants had the
slogan and mottos such as “Ghar Banwaya Kitna Sundar, Shauchalaya Na Ghar Ke
Andar” (A beautiful house built, but no toilet inside), “Sab Rogon Ki Ek Hi Dawai,
Ghar Mein Rakho Saaf Safai” (A single medicine for all ailments, keep cleanliness at
home), “Jab Ham Ghar Se Door Shauch Ko Jaate, To Makkhi, Pani, Hawa Se Mal Ghar
Mein Laate” (When we go for defecation away from home, we bring back faeces with
flies, water and air), “Ham Sabne Milkar Hai Thana, Gaon Ko Hai Swachh Banana”
(We have all resolved, we will make our village clean), “Rajasthan Ki Avashyakta, Jan-
Jan Ki Swachhta” (Need of the hour for Rajasthan, cleanliness of each and everyone),
“Mera Gaon Saaf Ho, Ismein Sabka Vikas Ho” (Let my village be clean, this involves
development for all), “Sau Bigha Hai Ghar Mein Kheti, Bahar Shauch Ko Jati Beti”
(Even though a household has a 100-bigha farm, its daughter goes for open defecation),
“Shauchalaya Ki Baat Nirali, Izzat Ki Karta Rakhwali” (Toilet plays a unique role, it
protects dignity), “Rozi-Roti Khet Hamare, Inmein Tatti Karo Na Pyare” (Our fields
give us livelihood, don't defecate in them) and “Ghar Angan Mein Ho Shauchalaya
Nahi Rahe Koi Shanka, Chher-Chhar Aur Bhay Ki Na Ho Koi Ashanka” (When we
have toilet in our household, there is no threat of harassment or fear).
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The rally finally ended at the CMC building in the university premises, where
regular classes are held for the journalism students. The participants gathered at the
front lawns of the building, where the theatre artistes and activists from the State
Resource Centre invited them to watch and participate in a presentation on the
community triggering process for promoting the ODF concept through the Community-
Led Total Sanitation (CLTS). The CLTS focuses on community-wide behavioural
change, rather than merely toilet construction. The process raises the awareness that as
long as even a minority continues to defecate in the open, everyone is at risk of disease.
CLTS uses community-led methods, such as participatory mapping and analyzing
pathways between faeces and the mouth, which if faecal-oral transmission of disease,
as a means of teaching the risks associated with open defecation. A tool called
triggering is used to propel people into taking action and this takes place over a day
with a team of facilitators.
This aims to cause disgust in participants, and the facilitators help participants
to plan appropriate sanitation facilities. Using the term “Tatti” (shit) during triggering
events or presentations, rather than faeces or excreta, is a deliberate aspect of the CLTS
approach, as it is meant to be a practical and straightforward approach rather than a
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theoretical or academic conversation. The CLTS is an approach to achieve sustained
behaviour change of people who participate in a guided process of triggering, which is
intended to lead to spontaneous and long-term change of social behaviours, in
particular the abandonment of open defecation. The concept originally involved mainly
provoking shame and disgust about poor sanitation in order to bring about change. It
has been further developed since then by applying the lessons learnt from large scale
applications in different rural and urban settings, focusing more on the aspects of pride.
The demonstration of the triggering process left a deep and indelible impact on
the young participants in the rally, who realized the enormity of the subject of open
defecation. They participated actively in the exercise and replied enthusiastically to the
questions posed by the artistes. All of them took a pledge on the spot to promote
cleanliness in their daily lives and never indulge in open defecation. Refreshments and
breakfast given to the participants on the occasion, after they were tired after long walk
in the blazing sun, filled them with a renewed energy to take part in the activities
during the second half of the event.
It was pointed out at the end of the massive rally that Rajasthan has made a
rapid progress with regard to sanitation coverage since the launch of Swachh Bharat
Mission-Gramin in October 2014. The sanitation journey in Rajasthan is dotted by
several important milestones, including being a pioneer in adopting the district wide
approach, developing and implementing standard operating procedures for SBM,
electronic fund transfer to make direct payment to the beneficiary accounts for greater
transparency and fluidity, and most of all adopting innovative ways of catalysing a
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community led movement for social and individual behaviour change. The State has
effectively supported this movement with policy level interventions to create an
appropriate enabling environment for the realisation of the vision of a Swachh
Rajasthan. The measures taken by the State Government have helped in streamlining
the ground level processes. Districts have also taken initiatives at their own levels by
issuing further guidelines and circulars to guide the implementation and monitoring
processes and to resolve contextual problems. Apart from strengthening the ground
level cadre, parallel initiatives have been undertaken engaging PRIs, panchayat
secretaries, DRGs and vendors. Standard Operating Procedures were simplified for
DLOs and BLOs. At the same time, masons were trained on the viable technical option
of the twin- leach pit model and were also oriented on the advantages of ODF. This
measure was an important step in the direction of ensuring self-reliance in terms of
promoting the right technology. A strong monitoring system was put in place using in-
person reviews at all levels as well as by using social network and video-conferences.
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“SANKALP SAMMELAN” AT SENATE HALL
After taking part in the impressive rally on the university campus, all the
participants assembled at the Senate Hall, situated adjacent to the Vice-Chancellor's
Secretariat, where all important dignitaries were also invited. As part of the event's
second half, a “Swachhta Hi Sewa: Sankalp Sammelan” (resolution conference) was
organised in the Senate Hall, where the chief guest was the Rajasthan Rural
Development and Panchayati Raj Minister, Mr. Rajendra Singh Rathore, and the
guest of honour was the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. R. K. Kothari. An important aspect of
Mr. Rathore's presence in the function was that he was earlier a student of Rajasthan
University and also the president of Students' Union. After the rendition of Rajasthan
University's anthem, the UNICEF Communication and Advocay Specialist, Ms.
Suchorita Bardhan, welcomed Mr. Rathore by presenting a stole to him. Stoles were
also presented to Prof. Kothari and the UNICEF-Rajasthan Field Office Chief,
Dr. Isabelle Bardem.
The CMC Head, Prof. Sanjeev Bhanawat, started the proceedings by
highlighting the partnership of CMC with UNICEF during the last three years and its
impact on the entire discourse on development journalism training, education, courses
15
and curriculum. He pointed out that the half-day event on “Swachhta Hi Sewa” had
added a new dimension to the cooperation between the two institutions. The experts
participating in the programme laid emphasis on bringing about a sustained behaviour
change in the local communities to achieve the target of making the villages, towns and
districts open defecation free in Rajasthan. The harmful impacts of open defecation on
people's health and children's nutrition was also highlighted during the event. The
speakers threw light on different aspects of ODF campaign and suggested the strategies
for ensuring its success. One of the most positive features of the ODF campaign in
Rajasthan is the voluntary participation by political leaders across party lines. Sanitation
has been taken up by public representatives in their meetings and forums at all levels.
This has contributed in creating a positive environment and in establishing sanitation as
a public issue rather than a political issue. The State Government has also accorded
high priority to the emerging technology related issues. Apart from seeking guidance
from the national mission, the State Government is exploring technical support options
from within the State. One such initiative is the pilot testing of bio-toilets.
Prof. R. K. Kothari said in his address that sanitation should be adopted by all
sections of society as a habit, as the physical cleanliness had a direct connection with
intellectual and spiritual cleanliness. Sanitation should be made important part of
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personality, he said and added, “If we are aware and make sanitation a regular habit,
there will be no need to observe a particular day or campaign.” He pointed out that
cleanliness was a very wide subject and had religious significance as well as physical,
intellectual and spiritual aspects connected with it. He said Mahatma Gandhi had made
salutary efforts for promoting cleanliness and the Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi
had taken a pledge to make the national clean and free of open defecation by Mahatma
Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary in 2019. This would be possible with the active
cooperation of all sections of society, especially the students and youths, he said.
Prof. Kothari's address was followed by the exhibition of a short film titled
“The Dawn of Sanitation Revolution”, which has been produced by UNICEF. The film
showed the initiatives taken in various districts of Rajasthan for achieving the ODF
targets and highlighted the impact of cleanliness drive on the lives of people living in
the far-off areas. It showed an 80-year-old woman, Mango Begum, hailed as a role
model in the local community and the vision of Chief Minister Ms. Vasundhara Raje
for declaration of the entire State as open defecation free by 2018. Scaling up of
sanitary practices and people's involvement were some of the important elements of the
sanitation drive exhibited in the film. The audience watched the short film of 10-minute
duration with a keen interest and praised the message for cleanliness conveyed by it.
17
In her insightful address, Dr. Isabelle Bardem, the UNICEF-Rajasthan Field
Office Chief, said Rajasthan had made a significant progress in the reduction in under-
five-year children's mortality and drop-out of school-going children during the last 10
years. Similarly, against the access of 27.3% households to sanitary toilets in 2012 in
the State, 87% households have sanitary toilets built in the houses in September 2017,
she pointed out. Dr. Bardem said the ODF campaign had become a mass movement in
Rajasthan with the government's support and the people had realized that the major
underlying cause of disease and malnutrition was the habit of answering the call of
nature in the open space and fields without regard to proper cleanliness. “Stopping
open defecation will restore dignity of women and protect them against harassment and
sexual offences,” she said.
Dr. Bardem said she had worked in different countries for the last 20 years, but
she had witnessed the change of such a large scale for the first time in Rajasthan.
UNICEF was working hard in the State in the areas of children's morbidity and
malnutrition, she said, while calling upon the participants to also initiate a dialogue
with the communities on the significance of washing hands with soap as a method to
maintain cleanliness and avoid the spread of infection and disease.
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Mr. Rajendra Singh Rathore said in his inspiring address that the sanitation
drive taken up by the State Government would only be complete with the participation
of the youths. “With the oath of the youths for cleanliness, Rajasthan will lead in
sanitation in the country by next year,” he said, while calling upon the participants to
take up sanitation in the State as a movement, led by the youth power. He affirmed that
Rajasthan was making a fast progress towards achieving the ODF targets and said that
six districts had so far been declared open defecation free, while 10 more would be
given the ODF status by December this year. “Of the 9,851 village panchayats in the
State, 6,375 have been declared open defecation free,” he said.
Mr. Rathore said the women too an important role to play in achieving the ODF
status for their villages and towns, as the subject was directly related to their own
dignity. “Charity begins at home,” he remarked, while appealing to the people of the
State to construct toilet at their home without fail. Mr. Rathore administered an oath of
“Swachhta Hi Sewa” to the participants and all of them stood up and took a pledge to
contribute to making a new, clean and healthy India and dedicate themselves to the
cause of cleanliness during the movement being taken up from September 15 to
October 2, 2017. The oath, administered in Hindi language, was as follows:
“I hereby solemnly resolve that I will dedicate myself completely to the
“Swachhta Hi Sewa” people's movement being observed from September 15 to October
2, 2017, for making a clean, healthy and new India. Under this movement I will:
- Promote cleanliness at home, school, college, health centre, railway station and
bus stand, ponds and other public places.
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- Contribute to making the villages and towns open defecation free by rendering
help in the construction of toilets with two pits for myself and for the people
who are unable to make its arrnagement.
- Participate in the behaviour change by using toilet, washing my hands and
adopting other habits of cleanliness.
- Promote the solid and liquid waste management by adopting the principle of
“reduce, recycle and reuse.”
After the oath taking, the dignitaries released a UNICEF publication titled
“ODF: Journey of Rajasthan” which has stated the progress of sanitation drive in the
State and listed out the future stragies and challenges in the work. The book covered
the period since the beginning of the government's programmes till March 2017, while
pointing out that over 55% of village panchayats and 18% of the 295 blocks had
attained ODF status. The districts which attained ODF status by this time were Bikaner,
Ajmer, Churu, Jhunjhunu Pali and Chittorgarh.
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At the end of the function, it was time for the participants to relax and listen to
some inspiring and melodious songs. Singer Liaquat Ali of the “Sa Re Ga Ma” fame
presented a song dedicated to Swacch Bharat Mission and thereafter sang a popular
number from the Hindi movie “Upkaar”. The half-day programme came to an end with
the presentation of mementoes to the guests. While Prof. R. K. Kothari presented a
memento to Mr. Rathore, Ms. Suchorita Bardhan presented a memento to Prof. Kothari
and the Lok Samvad Sansthan Secretary Mr. Kalyan Singh Kothari presented a
memento to Dr. Isabelle Bardem.
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As the participants dispersed from the Senate Hall for high tea, there was a
consensus that the desert districts in the State were facing some common challenges in
executing the ODF drive and in attaining sustainable use of toilets. Ensuring toilet use
by communities in remote desert areas still remains a challenge especially since
farming families live on their farms in makeshift houses for the length of the
agriculture season. Sustainability is also challenged in areas that face genuine water
scarcity and are not covered under rural water supply schemes. Success is unevenly
spread across the state but it is evident that the lagging pockets are progressively fading
away. In terms of aggregate statistics, some districts have more to cover than others.
The districts were already at different stages of progress when the intensified ODF
campaign started two years ago. However, unlike the past sanitation programmes, the
focus on use of toilet is very high across districts. Moreover, the District Santiation
Missions are aware of the bottlenecks they face and are finding ways to overcome
them. The sanitation journey in Rajasthan is progressing well at the moment and it is
important to keep the momentum high in districts. Evidence elsewhere shows that most
slippages happen within a few months of initial success. It is therefore important for
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districts to have a separate follow-up plan for villages and panchayats which achieve
ODF. Besides, technological soundness must be guaranteed so that the toilets remain
usable without causing any environmental hazard in the long run, felt the participants.
MEDIA COVERAGE
The media coverage of the “Swacchta Hi Sewa: Swachh Yuva Diwas” programme was
an indication to the significance attached by both the print and electronic media to the
event on the Rajasthan University campus. The Sankalp Sammelan in the Sentate Hall
was telecast live on Zee-Rajasthan and ETV-Rajasthan news channels and it was
allotted the prime slot by other television news channels in view of its significance for
the viewers in general and the policy makers, government authorities, and non-
government organizations in particular. Other television channels which telecast news
about the event included Doordarshan-Rajasthan and OK-India. Extensive news stories
on the programme, along with big photographs, were published in the Hindi and
English newspapers on the next day, depicting the interest shown by media persons in
the coverage of the event.
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BEHAVIOUR CHANGE NEEDED TO STOP OPEN
DEFECATION: EXPERTS
‘Harmful impacts of the practice should be highlighted’
Sanitation experts here on Wednesday laid emphasis on bringing about a sustained
behaviour change in the local communities to achieve the target of making the villages,
towns and districts Open Defecation Free (ODF) in Rajasthan. The harmful impacts of
open defecation on people’s health and children's nutrition should be brought to their
notice, they said.
The occasion was the State-level inauguration of “Swachhta Hi Sewa: Swachh Yuva
Diwas” on the Rajasthan University campus here. State Rural Development Minister
Rajendra Rathore said six districts had so far been declared open defecation free, while
10 more would be given the ODF status by December this year.
‘Onus on youth’
“Of the 9,851 village panchayats in the State, 6,375 have been declared open defecation
free,” Mr. Rathore said. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan would succeed if the youth
24
adopted it as a movement, he added.
UNICEF-Rajasthan chief Isabelle Bardem said that against the access of 27.3%
households to sanitary toilets in 2012 in the State, 87% households had sanitary toilets
built in their premises till this month. “Stopping open defecation will restore women's
dignity and protect them against harassment and sexual offences,” she said.
A massive rally of the university and college students was organised on the campus and
the theatre artistes staged a presentation on the community-led total sanitation process.
The event was organised jointly by UNICEF and the university's Centre for Mass
Communication.
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