Village shuns open defecation with Gandhiji’s 4th monkey

Imaginative campaigns tinged with strong emotional flavour have driven many villages in Madhya Pradesh to become open defecation-free.

While the “fourth monkey” joined the Mahatma Gandhi’s moral brigade of “three monkeys” in a campaign theme to appeal rural folks in Harda district to shun open defecation habit, male members in the region have been wooed with the promise of incentives to turn Swachchh Bharat a social movement by presenting toilets to their sisters as marriage gift.

Senior district officers, including the district collector of Harda, had actively participated in the Swachchh Bharat campaign by making extensive tours to interior villages wearing T-shirts painted with four monkeys in which the fourth monkey was appealing to people to avoid defecation in the open.

“The campaign had generated curiosity among the rural folk in the district who were well aware of Mahatma’s moral brigade of three monkeys, contributing to the success of the mission,” a senior district officer, the brain behind the innovative campaign, told this newspaper on Sunday.

The district authorities had also launched an innovative initiative in July last year, christened as “Bhai No.1.”

The scheme announced reward for male members who gifted toilets to their sisters on their weddings.

The imaginative campaign by the district authorities had also attracted the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made mention of it in his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio broadcast.

Harda has been declared open defecation free (ODF) district on August 15.

A woman sarpanch in Betul district has introduced “name to shame” scheme in her panchayat to force the local villagers to give up the habit of defecating in the open.

Kusli Bai opened a “control room” in the panchayat office and broadcast live names of the residents in her locality found defecating in the open.

“Harda and Indore districts have been declared ODF in MP. Around 20 lakh toilets have been constructed in the last two years in the state. We have set a target to build 55 lakh toilets in coming two years”, H.Verman, state coordinator of Swachh Bharat Mission said.