How open defecation hits the disabled

When there is so much of noise being heard on ‘Swachta’ and when the emphasis on ending open defecation has become a deafening cry, can this now find resonance in Poonch Can the State build the political intent and use its resources to ensure that the disabled in this border region can defecate with dignity

Zulekha Bee is 35 years old, physically disabled and lives along with her brother in kuccha house, in Chatral area, Mendhar tehsil Poonch district, Jammu. Ever since her parents passed away some years ago, she has been entirely dependent on her brother. She finds it a struggle to reach the door of home from her usual position on her bed. But her biggest hurdle is to go outside to defecate in the open, often in the bitter cold or during rains. Zulekha Bee’s house does not have a toilet and day after day, she has to undergo the humiliation and the sheer physical stress of going through with her daily body functions in a public space.

Moved by her plight, Syed Basharat Husain Shah, a young student from Jammu University, a social activist took up the matter with Jahangir Hussain Mir, deputy chairman of the legislative council. Mr Mir gave a sympathetic hearing and issued a letter to the BDO, Mendhar stating that Rs 20,000 should be given from the member of Legislative Council fund for construction of a toilet for Zulekha Bee. Despite this, action is pending. The question to be asked then is how many more Zulekha Bees are there in this border area, a conflict zone where life is difficult A study conducted in 2015 on Disability, Disability Sensitisation and Management in Poonch by Charkha, an NGO based in Delhi, throws some light on this.

The study conducted in Mendhar, Surankote and Mandi tehsils in Poonch shows that largest section of persons with disabilities (31 per cent) are in the age group 10-20 years. Twenty per cent fall in an older age group, 20-30 years. This shows that the children and youth bear the brunt of the burden of disability here. Ten km from Haveli, the district headquarters, in the model village of Khanetar, lives 12 year old Ikram. Afflicted by polio, even the act of reaching school and coming back home is a drain on this young boy.

In his case too, what is debilitating is the fact that there is no toilet in his house. Ikram has to be taken for defecation in the open. It is excruciating not only for him but for his family members, to watch their child suffer so much.

The prevalence of disability in the state of Jammu & Kashmir, according to the figures of the Central Statistics Office Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, 2011 — is exceptionally high. It stands at 3.6 per cent as compared to the national average of 2.1 per cent.

There would be multiple reasons for this including heredity, environmental factors and disease. In Poonch there is another factor that can be linked to the prevalence of disability. People in this border district have for decades lived under the shadow of violence, fearing for their life and limb. Many of them are victims of violence, have suffered injury that has left them disabled.

Support through institutional mechanisms and responsive systems of governance that are disabled friendly — is thus an imperative. Sadly this is wanting. The coverage of PHCs is poor and people in rural areas find it difficult to access district or sub-district hospitals. Bad road connectivity makes things only worse.

Arguably poor services and infrastructure would hit the disabled even more as is in the case of Zulekha Bee, Ikram and several others. Fareed Malik, a Maulvi involved with social issues says, “In Adai village, Mandi tehsil, many disabled persons live in houses without a toilet. On one occasion, we invited Prof. Nirmal Gupta, chairperson of Jammu-Kashmir State Social Welfare Board. She expressed her support, saying that she would ensure that a toilet is constructed in the house of every disabled person. We are hopeful that this will happen. It is painful for our disabled community members to defecate in the open particularly during the rain or snowfall”. When there is so much of noise being heard on the national stage on “Swachta” and when the emphasis on ending open defecation has become a deafening cry, can this now find resonance in Poonch

The blitz of newspaper advertisements marking the completion of two years of the NDA government claims big achievements on several fronts including ending open defecation. According to government sources, one crore 92 lakh toilets have been built for general public. A whopping 54,732 villages are reported to have moved from open defecation to toilet usage, as individual toilets have been constructed through government support. It is another matter whether these claims would stand to scrutiny. But even if they do, such an achievement would be dimmed by the present plight of Poonch where the extent of marginalisation due to multiple factors of under-development, conflict and poor services is arguably high. The disabled here are then doubly disadvantaged. Can the Union government or the state government generate the political intent and marshal its gigantic resources to ensure that the disabled in this border region can defecate in dignity

The writer is the deputy editor of Charkha. This article has been written under the National Media Award Programme instituted by NFI. (Charkha Features)