A Rotary-Corporate endeavour to end open defecation

About 955 people in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, are now happy to use toilets, thanks to a joint project of RC Bareilly South, RID 3110, and a corporate B L Agro Oils. Several families in villages around Bareilly are defecating in the fields with no toilets in the ­vicinity. The State has been identified by the government of India for its poor hygiene conditions and sanitation facilities.

When the Rotarians of RC Bareilly South decided to address the issue of open defecation in the surrounding villages, club member Ghanshyam Khandelwal, who is the Managing Director of B L Agro Oils, came forward to fund the ­project under the CSR commitments. After an exhaustive community ­assessment, and direct interaction with village heads and villagers, 191 households across three villages — Parsakhera Gautiya, Gokilpur and Nandausi — were identified.  A CSR-funded, district-sponsored global grant project was drawn up to build toilets for each of the households under guidance from Project Coordinator PDG I S Tomer. RC Corning, RID 7120, pitched in as international partner. RC ­Aligarh City helped in implementing the project. The total value of the project was ₹35.24 lakh of which ₹21.76 lakh was contributed by the corporate and the rest was sponsored by the district.

After construction of the toilets, a team was formed to train villagers on the maintenance and good ­sanitation practices. They taught them the importance of handwash and how the simple practices can keep diseases at bay.

An MoU was signed between the project partners ­comprising the UNICEF, Indian Medical ­Association and Rotary District 3110 for ­conducting training sessions. The villagers vowed to maintain the toilets and practice hygiene lessons imparted to them.

The facilities were handed over to the beneficiaries in an event presided over by PDG Arun Jain.