‘Swachhata Doots’ in every village: Maharashtra

News

• Maharashtra government has decided to appoint ‘swacchata doots’ or cleanliness ambassadors in every village to help achieve the target of building 56 lakh toilets across the state over the next five years.
• Half of them will be women and each cleanliness ambassador will be given an annual renumeration of Rs 22,000.
• These ambassadors will be given the task of building toilets in their respective villages and ensuring that people stop defecating in the open. If any village has a large population, then more than one ambassador could be appointed.
• They will receive half the money when the construction of a toilet is completed. The rest will be given after a year, if people in his area stop defecating in the open.
• The minimum qualification required to become an ambassador would be eighth standard pass.

Reasons

• Nearly 70 per cent of all illnesses in villages are caused due to contaminated water. One of the major reasons of water contamination is open defecation. Stray animals come in contact with the human excreta and subsequently pollute the water bodies, which ultimately leads to spread of diseases.
• When villagers fall ill, they are forced to spend about Rs 1,000 on medicines. If hospitalised, the amount spent by them goes much higher .