Chhattisgarh: 102-year-old woman succeeds in making her village free from 'open-defecation'

Raipur, Sep 6: It seems that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of Swachh Bharat is going to be a reality soon.

These days when people are not in a position to move or walk properly after 60-years of age, this 102-year-old woman from Chattisgarh has set an example to the whole country. Kuwarbai Yadav has sold her goats for Rs 22,000 for building a toilet!

On Independence Day, Aug 15, 2015, PM Modi, during his speech, made an announcement of building toilets across the country. [PM Modi's Independence Day speech: Highlights]

In her initial attempt, Kuwarbai launched a door to door campaign in her native village, Kotabharri in Dhamtari district. The ultimate aim of the campaign was to attain an open-defecation free zone.

Kuwarbai attended a chaupal ( a public meeting), from where she came to know about the diseases caused by open defecation.

That is when she decided to do something on her own. She sold her goats and decided to build a toilet. She shared her plans with other villagers. It was after that the 450 villagers took a pledge to construct toilet at their homes.

The authorities also provided support to this initiative of the villagers. The District administration with the help of collector, Bhem Singh, gave the villagers subsidy for toilet constructions.

The subsidy was given under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREG) scheme. By July 2015, the village was declared open-defecation free zone.

OneIndia News