Nellore: In a bid to motivate school students to coax their parents to construct individual household latrines (IHHL), the photograph of students having IHHL at home will be displayed on school notice boards. This is part of a novel programme named Self Respect Campaign to bring change in the mindset of people. The idea behind this is the publicity for their classmates is certain to make them bring pressure on their parents to build IHHL in their homes too.
Instructions have been given to every school to make students take a pledge every day during the Morning Prayer against open defecation. Incidentally, it is one among a slew of measures being initiated by Rural Water Supply and Sanitation wing to achieve 100 per cent open defecation-free villages by next March. There are also proposals to take departmental action against field level staff working in villages if they don't have IHHL.
Apart from punishments, there are also felicitations for the village-level government staff, sarpanchs, leaders, women's groups and NGOs wherever they contributed for defecation-free habitations. Vigilance teams are being formed with active youth, students and SHG members to prevent people from venturing out to address nature's calls. Resource persons trained by Delhi-based Feedback Foundation have already begun a campaign against open defecation in selected mandals and it will be extended to all the 46 mandals in a phased manner.
They were asked to stay in the village overnight and keep tab on those going out to relieve themselves and take appropriate action. "No one will dare to repeat the mistake if they watch the demonstration by the resource persons on the threats to health even if one person in the village opts to relieve outside," said RWS superintending engineer R.V. Krishna Reddy. He said that they had trouble with the poorest of the poor, who do not have means to build IHHL even with the government support, but NGOs are being told to construct toilets in such cases.
