Bundelkhand gets tough on open defecation

Jhansi: Bundelkhand, considered one of the most backward regions in Uttar Pradesh, has decided to tackle the problem of open defection in ways that may seem bizarre to many.

From imposing fines, to taking away facilities, Bundelkhand is doing it all to stop people from defecating in the open. In Banda district, a village called Bhujwan Purva has announced that anyone who defecated in the open would have to pay a fine of Rs 40 per month. If a family has five members, they will have to deposit Rs 200 to the village head, every month. In case they have guests, they will be charged an additional Rs 10 per person.

The village has at least 120 families, of which 60 are Dalits and many do not have toilets at their homes. Forty families do not even have pucca homes and live in mud houses with thatched roofs. Bhailal, a Dalit who has a family of six, including four children, said, “I work in the fields and get Rs 90 per day. I cannot afford to pay Rs 240 every month.” Along with other Dalit families, Bhailal now trudges 2.5 kilometres to a nearby forest area, every morning, to defecate.

In Lalitpur, district officials decided that those who didn’t have toilets in their homes would lose their arms licences. Those who have applied for new licences would not be given one unless they proved they had a toilet at home.

Chief development officer Pravin Kumar said, “Since they are financially well-off, we have told them that if they do not build a toilet, they will lose their arms licence.”

In Mahoba, officials have informed people that they would not be given food grains under the public distribution scheme if they did not have a toilet. Though no order has been issued, the ration shops have stopped giving food grains to families that defecate in the open from June 15.

Dalits, once again, are the worst hit by this decision.

A local official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that they were given a target to make their district ODF (open defecation free) by October 2 and coercion was the only way in which people could be made to build toilets. He admitted that most government schools in the region do nto have toilets.

“If schools get toilets, girls will not drop out and the toilet will be an incentive for them to come to school”, he added.

Rashmi Chauhan, a member of a local NGO that is working in collaboration with district administration, said, “If a person can afford to buy a gun , he can surely afford to get a toilet constructed. The gun culture is very popular in Bundelkhand and we are using this strategy to compel people to build toilets in their homes.”