A drive down the Jaipur-Tonk highway tells its own story of ‘development’ in Rajasthan. Along the highway, one can see signboards sprouting on vast stretches of agricultural land - Highway Residency, Siddhi Vinayak Residency, Sandy Rock Apartments and so on.
Just as the highway tapers into a narrow road leading into Tonk, the landscape on either side metamorphoses into a surreal painting - dusty brown mud-houses, enlivened by artwork in white, form the background and brightly attired women peer curiously at the passing convoy of cars.
Soon the convoy - led by Unicef India, outdoor adventure brand Woodland Shoes, and Rajasthan Government officials, along with a handful of journalists - drives into what appears to be an oasis in the desert: Upper Primary School Kali Hardia, Block Malpura, Tonk (Rajasthan). The school has proper classrooms, an
Headmaster Yasin Ali, flanked by his staff of seven teachers, tells us this was possible because of well-wishers, including the Unicef-Woodland team and officials of the district Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (the Centre’s flagship primary education scheme).
“This school has a zero dropout rate now,” says Ali, adding that schools nearby had started emulating the model. Stating that all children in the nearby villages had started attending his school, he adds that “No one goes to a public school now”.
With its 182 children predominantly from the Scheduled castes and tribe communities, the school was identified by Unicef for its WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) programme, along with another school in Hajipura.
According to Census 2011, the proportion of rural households defecating in the open in Rajasthan is 80 per cent, with 93 per cent of such households in Tonk district.
Under the WASH programme, with technical expertise from Unicef and financial aid from Woodlands and the Government, children are made aware of the importance of hygiene, particularly washing hands and not defecating in the open.
Says 13-year-old Shahina in Kali Hardia, “Earlier, I used to wake my mother at night if I wanted to relieve myself, and both of us had to walk into the fields in the dark. It was scary. But now we are happy.”
However, she rues that many homes in her village still do not have toilets.
English teacher Abdul Hamid says the teachers were trying to persuade students, especially girls, to convince their parents to build a toilet at home. “But the mindsets are entrenched against defecating within the living premises. With time, things will change,” he adds.
That times are changing, however gradually, was evident when Hamid started telling us, without any inhibition, about the problems in disposing of used sanitary napkins or menstrual cloth in the co-educational school.
He also showed us a pit into which the girls drop their used cloth, which is later burnt.
While the awareness drive seemed to show positive results in the Kali Hardia School, the results were mixed in Hajipura, which has 109 students, 44 of them girls. The village was recently declared open-defecation free.
The sarpanch, Wali Mohammed, says he led by example by first constructing a toilet in his home. “Now, this village is 100 per cent open-defecation free,” he says.
However, senior villagers were still squeamish about defecating in a toilet within the residential premises, said a young villager.
But, the women and girls are a pleased lot. “The toilets have provided me self-respect and safety,” says Chandbi, an elderly woman.
However, while the Rajasthan Government has made significant progress in increasing the number of toilets and water availability in schools (it claims coverage at 92 per cent and 98 per cent, respectively), State- and village-level officials admit lapses in sustained usage and maintenance of toilets. There are even reports of villagers using the toilets to store grains and other material.
“We could make out that the toilets were not being used. Yet, we hope that its existence within the premises may help in changing mindsets later,” says Harkirat Singh, Managing Director, Woodland Shoes. The company spends about 5-6 per cent of its turnover on CSR and partners Unicef India in villages across the country.
Singh, who travelled to the interiors of Tonk with his corporate team, found the visit an eye-opener. “Such visits make us understand the market we are operating in, as we consider the rural young our potential customers,” he says.
But Chandbi of Hajipur has a more fundamental issue at hand. “I was among the first to build the toilet, but the pit is already full and overflowing. Who will clean this?”
Any answers?
(The visit to Tonk, Rajasthan, was organised by Woodland Shoes and Unicef-India)