Rural Sanitation Articles

  In the remote village of Umla, nestled at an altitude of 13,900 feet in Ladakh, life used to be a daily battle against nature. For Tsewang Dolma[i] and her family, fetching water meant trekking through snow and braving sub-zero temperatures. This arduous task consumed hours of the day, leaving little time for education, livelihood, or community activities. Today, thanks to the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), every household in Umla

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi honored Kunwar Bai, a 105-year-old resident of Dhamtari village in Chhattisgarh, as the face of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in 2016, she never imagined the profound impact she would have. A centenarian who had never seen a toilet in her life, Kunwar Bai’s village was declared Open Defecation-Free (ODF) in 2018, marking a significant change for her and her community. A Century-Long Wait for

  Shanti Devi, from Deeppura village in the Neem Ka Thana district of Rajasthan, has witnessed the many evolving faces of India throughout her lifetime. When asked about her age, she replies with a thoughtful expression, “Teen saal, 80 baras“. At 83, she also embodies the changing status of women in our country.  She was married young, just a few years after Independence. “I had to wake up early in the morning to relieve myself before