In rural India, the issue of personal hygiene is always a neglected one, and more so when it comes to women and children. The government has taken initiative to educate every children, child labour has become a punishable crime since the implementation of   The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986, but the most important issue, health, has always been at the back-seat. That the need of a sanitized toilet in every house is of utmost importance is often overlooked. After vivid awareness programs and earnest endeavours on behalf of the Government, the cursed disease of Polio has been successfully eradicated from India. But what awareness have been taken to blot out the very reason behind the spreading of Polio and several other diseases? Yes, I’m talking about open defecation, a habit to some, a torment to many and detrimental to the progress of the whole country.

Open defecation is a problem which gives rise not only to diseases but also affects social and cultural life. Most of the villagers have actually no option than to go outside to defecate, either during daytime or at night. It has direct impact on the safety, dignity and health of women as they don’t want to do such things in broad daylight. Coming to education, most of the primary schools, though provide mid-day meals, but have no toilets. So the number of school-going girls are dropping exponentially even when they’re much interested to learn. Even the attraction of free meals is failing to prevent this southward slide.

A few years ago, I visited a small village in West Bengal along with a group. We were there to spend a day with the children of the primary school on behalf of a local club. A little girl said a heart wrenching fact, “I don’t drink water throughout the day even in summer for there is no decent place to urinate”. We were too shocked to accept the truth! Just think about their plights! Millions of children are suffering in this way and trust me, the scenario is worse  that you can imagine. Proper sanitation can have greater positive impact on their lives than any other thing. This is the root of many problems like high child mortality rate, several health issues etc.

Mahatma Gandhi once said,”Sanitation is more important than independence” , nothing could be more true than this prophetic quote and surprisingly is equally applicable even after 67 years of independence.

Domex, the flagship sanitation brand of Hindustan Unilever, has launched the Domex Toilet Academy Program (DTA) on 19th November 2013. The main aim of DTA is to make people aware of proper hygiene and sanitation and to make toilets accessible and affordable. they are working extensively in the villages of Maharashtra and Odisha and are aiming to build 24000 toilets by 2015.

Let’s join hands with Domex to spread the awareness. The #ToiletForBabli campaign is an initiative to eliminate open defecation and to make India a healthier nation. Improvement in sanitation and hygiene can bring significant gain in health, education and economy. This should be taken as a top priority program for our own good, for the whole nation, because the part can’t be well unless the whole is good.

Image Source: http://www.domex.in/& Indiblogger

Let’s Bring The Change Together

You can bring about the change in the lives of millions of kids, thereby showing your support for the Domex Initiative. All you need to do is to “click” on the “Contribute Tab” on www.domex.in  and Domex will contribute Rs.5 on your behalf to eradicate open defecation, thereby helping kids like Babli live a dignified life.

I request all my readers to spare a minute to click on the above link and then to hit the “Contribute” tab. Thanks in advance for your kind co-operation.

This post is written as an entry for the Indi-Happy Hours Campaign #ToiletForBabli in association with  Domex and Indiblogger