Case of Reena Sau in Tharam Block

Title : Analysis of the Case - Reena Sau in Thram block

Case Summary (Case Facts):

Gramin Swachhata Sewa Sangstan (GSSS) is an organization involved in building sustainable models for community managed rural water and sanitation projects for the poor and marginalized, along with supporting various livelihood programs. GSSS believes in solving community problems through inclusive decision making, as it provides the members with a sense of ownership and control over the process of change. They have about 400 Employees and 600 village level Volunteers, across 25 districts. They plan to construct 17,000 toilets in Thram block in the next two years under the Swachha Bharat Mission. Thram block is located 72 KM from district headquarter and is connected by an all-weather road. It is encircled by a reserve forest and is difficult to access, hence, treated as an isolated block by the Administration.

Characters:         

• Reena Sau, Spearhead Team Leader(SHT), GSSS, Thram block
• Villagers of Thram Block

Case Situation Analysis:

On analyzing the case, we can see that though many rural sanitation programmes have been launched in India since our first five year plan, none of them seen to have brought about any significant increase in the coverage in rural sanitation. Different approaches have been tried, like providing incentives for construction of toilets, generating awareness among the target group and there are still some problems that are concerning the project.

Design issues not suited to

• The villagers needs
• Social norms- they are used to open defecation, prevailing practices,
• Facilitative Conditions – water scarcity, burden of additional water storage on women of the household
• Privacy-They lacked privacy because of poor designing.
• Space- cramped up

There are other problems like

• water contamination which is leading to water borne diseases- children dying .
• Dignity of women : Women agreeing that open defecation is :

• Shameful for women (84%)
• Unsafe (86%)
• Unsafe at night for all (86%)

Real per capita for this dist: 19404 compared to 54835(National avg); so, finance is a problem- maintaining the constructed toilets is an issue. About 50% households lie in BPL category.

Key Issues:

• People’s attitude towards open defecation
• Men’s attitude towards addressing women problem related to open defecation
• Design of toilet
• Water scarcity

GOALS:  To change villager’s attitude about Sanitation.

Problem Statement:

How to finalize an appropriate design of the toilet that will suit the needs of the villagers and will ensure that they continue to use it.

Decision Criteria:

• Creating Sense of ownership
• Providing privacy to women
• Design should incorporate minimal usages of water
• 100 percent reach and implementation of the project

Assumptions -  

• It is being assumed that the awareness campaign for bringing attitude change will yield positive result.
• The Government will finance the building of the Community Toilet for the contingency plan.

Alternatives –

1. Opting for flush/pour design toilets, but with design incorporations from the villagers suiting their needs and generating awareness in its favor by engaging change agents. Let the people contribute marginally to the cost incurred so that they get a sense of ownership.
2. Going for bio-gas linked toilets, which can also be used to generate fuel for domestic purposes and generating awareness in its favor by engaging change agents. Let the people contribute marginally to the cost incurred so that they get a sense of ownership.
3. Give the people freedom to choose between flush/pour toilets and Bio-gas linked toilets depending on their financial stability and generating awareness in its favor by engaging change agents. Let the people contribute marginally to the cost incurred so that they get a sense of ownership.

             Evaluation of each alternative