Sanity in Sanitation- Jajaroo ni Jhumbesh

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

About the Book On Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary in October 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared his vision for an Open-Defecation-Free India.

This book talks about the journey of an IAS officer who understood and leveraged the potential of the government, community and citizens for cleanliness. The true meaning of Swachh Bharat was seen as village after village transformed into a cleaner hub. Citizens took ownership to keep their village Open Defecation Free (ODF) through activities such as "Triggering' and 'Gandhigiri. The struggles and triumphs in fulfilling the dream of ODF Gujarat are passionately narrated here. The book relates the tale of a renewed satyagraha through Swachhagraha.

As we see a mother leading her toddler to squat on the toilet, we are sure the 'luxury' of toilet will become a 'necessity'.

About the Author JAYANTI S. RAVI is a scientist, civil servant, writer, speaker, educator, performing vocalist and thinker. With a master's degree in nuclear physics from the University of Madras, an MPA from Harvard University and a PhD in e-governance, she has authored books, published in international journals, guided doctoral students and also been a visiting faculty at Harvard University. Her professional experience includes serving as DDO in Sabarkantha, as collector in Panchmahals and as director of the National Advisory Council with the Prime Minister's Office.

As principal secretary and commissioner, rural development, Gujarat, she has championed the Swachh Bharat Mission for rural sanitation in the state. Her innovative and creative multidisciplinary approach to problem-solving has led to major transformational outcomes across various sectors. Presently, she serves in Gujarat as the principal secretary and commissioner, health and family welfare.

Foreword Access to basic sanitation and safe drinking water is not only the fundamental human right but also the sine qua non of children's survival, development and growth. Realizing its critical importance, world leaders at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit committed to ensuring universal and equitable access to water and sanitation for all by 2030, in tune with the letter and spirit of Sustainable Development Goal 6.

In the backdrop of the global call, the Government of India, in 2014, took the initiative to launch the "Swachh Bharat Mission" (SBM), which has turned out to be world's largest sanitation and behavioral change campaign aiming at elimination of open defecation in India. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's mantra: "Cleanliness is Godliness" and driven by an unprecedented political will, states across the country, especially Gujarat, spearheaded systematic mass public campaigns as part of SBM towards mobilizing communities to partner the movement for adoption of improved practices of sanitation and hygiene.

It is heartening to note that Dr. Jayanti Ravi, who is credited to have so passionately led the sanitation movement while heading the Rural Development portfolio in Gujarat, has documented her experiences from the Open Defecation Free journey in the State.

Preface Something extraordinary has been happening in India. Once known as the Open Defecation Capital of the world, now almost every family in the country has a toilet. In the last four years, the sanitation landscape of the country has been completely transformed. Perhaps the most surprising fact about this transformation where in people go to do their business, is that it is largely the work of the Indian Government. This administrative behemoth, which is not exactly famous for its dynamism, somehow awoke, and got 85 million toilets built in under four years.

How did this happen? This is the question that Jayanti S. Ravi, one of the leaders of the Clean India Movement, responsible for this transformation, addresses in this book. What made a budding nuclear physicist give up science for a life in the Indian Administrative Service, and inspired her to take up the cause of toilets for her state, Gujarat? Certainly, the call from the Prime Minister to end open defecation by the 2nd of October 2019, the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth, provided a spark. But the fire only took hold when civil servants such as Dr Ravi began to see that this was a cause which they could use to drive real change in the lives of the people they served.

**Contents and Sample Pages**