Itgivesmeimmensepleasuretosharethesecondissueofthe

SwachhataPatrika.TheChiefMinisterformallylaunchedthe

LohiyaSwachhBiharAbhiyan(LSBA)inagrandfunctionat

Patnaon27thSeptember2016.The July-Septemberquarter

alsowitnessed smooth transitionand ,irmgroundingof the

LSBAimplementationinRuralDevelopmentDepartment.

The biggest news poured in from Rohtas (Sasaram), where

Sanjhauli Block was declared open defecation free on 30

August 2016. Team Pratishtha Rohtas achieved the feat in

just55daysasaresultofconcertedefforts.

Sitamarhisetarecordby forming30kmlonghumanchain

to launch the campaign tomake Belsand sub-division ODF.

UNICEF extended support to install of group handwashing

station16schoolsofBelsandasdemonstrationunits.

Matchless leadership and hard work by Sitamarhi and

Rohtas district teams indicates that are both are poised to

take a big leap and continue the lead Bihar’s ODF

movement.

PravinMore

WASHSpecialist,BiharFieldOf,ice,UNICEF

Sanjhouli Block of Rohatas attains

ODFstatusin55Days

Rohtas successfully facilitated one complete Block –

Sanjhouli – to achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF)

statusin�ifty-�ivedays.On30thAugust2016onbehalf

of the Sanjhouli community, Panchayat Samitee

Pramukh together with the Mukhiyas of the six

Panchayats declared the block ODF at a grand social

event.Mr.AnimeshParashar,DistrictMagistratewith

his team, participated in the event and lauded the

communities. Mr. Yameen Mazumder, UNICEF,

eulogized the passion and commitment of the

community, natural leaders and district

administration.MrMazumderdistributedsportskits–

a special reward to recognizing the achievement - to

theODFGPs.

TheRohtasODFcampaign- ‘MissionPratistha’–aims

at restoring the community pride and dignity by

eliminatingopendefecation.Soonaftertheissuanceof

state-speci�icoperationalguidelines,inApril2015,the

district launched – Mission Pratishtha. Initially, the

district took op one Gram Panchayat in each block.

• Fromthe�ield

• Innovations

Volume: 1, Issue: 2 (Jul-Sep 2016)

SwachhataPatrika

Bihar’sODFJourney

Editorial

Inside July-September 2016

However, the scattered strength and energy barely yielded a result. PostDMorientation inmid-June, the district

requestedUNICEFsupporttotrainCLTSmotivators.FeedbackFoundation,UNICEFresourceagencyconductedthe

trainingfrom6to11July.Onthelastday,theteamtookSanjhaulionapilotbasisanddevelopedanactionplanto

makeitODF.

Thehighlightoftheactionplanwasthedeputationofadistrict-levelof�icialasanodalpersonforeachPanchayatto

supportthecommunityfacilitationprocess.Thedistrictdeployedateamof70-80governmentof�icials,including

ContinuedonPage6...

Government resolves to make ODF

Biharandprovidesafewatertoall

The Government, in line with its good governance

agenda (Sushasan Ke Karyakram), has made seven

policy resolutions titled “Viksit Bihar ke liye Saat

Nishchay”, for inclusive development of Bihar. The

resolutions include provision of safe drinking water

throughhouseconnectionsandtoiletfacilitytoallthe

households within a period of next �ive years.

Concerneddepartmentshavepreparedaroad-mapfor

time bound achievement of the goals and designed a

well-knitcampaigntoreacheveryhouseholdwithtap

connectionandtoiletfacility.

On27thSeptember2016,Mr.NitishKumar,Honorable

ChiefMinister ofBihar, alongwith concerned cabinet

ministers formally launched the schemes –

Mukhyamantri Gramin Peyjal Nishchay Yojana and

Lohiya Swachh Bihar Abhiyan. The Panchayati Raj,

Public Health Engineering, Urban Development &

Housing and Rural Development Departments jointly

organizedtheeventintheAdhivashenBhawan,Patna.

On the occasion, the road maps towards universal

accesstowaterandsanitationwerepresented.

TheMukhyamantriGraminPeyjalNishchayYojanawill

be jointly implemented by the three Departments –

Panchayati Raj, Public Health Engineering to ensure

tap water connection to all the rural households of

Bihar.PanchayatiRajDepartmentwillextendtherural

water supply service in 5,013 non-quality affected

GramPanchayats,whereas PublicHealth Engineering

Department (PHED)willwork in 3,378water quality

affected Gram Panchayats, along with managing the

ongoing water supply scheme(s) to ensure adequate

tapwater to thehouseholds.TheUrbanDevelopment

& Housing Department (UDHD) will facilitate water

From the Field

supply in the urban areas of the State under

MukhyamantriShahariPeyjalNishchayYojana.

TheRuralDevelopmentDepartmentwiththelaunchof

Lohiya Swachh Bihar Abhiyan(LSBA)willextendrural

sanitation services to nearly 16 million rural

householdswiththeaimtomaketheruralareasOpen

defecation Free by 2nd October 2019. Along with

household toilet, the LSBA has provision to construct

Community Sanitary Complexes in public places.

Beyond ODF, the campaign also aim at clean and

hygienicruralareabymanagingsolidandliquidwaste.

WASH Institutes will also be one of the important

components of the campaign to cater the training

needs, knowledge management and information

sharing.

The Urban Development & Housing Department

(UDHD) aims to cover all the 7.93 Lakh households,

out of 19.08 Lakh urban households, residing across

140 Urban Local Bodies, by 2019. The UDHD has

already conducted house to house survey. However,

land availability for 83,125 households for toilet

construction is reported to be an issue in the urban

areas. The UDHD will also construct 6,881 Public

SanitaryConveniencesattheplacesofpublicgathering

places.

RuralDevelopmentDepartmenthasdeveloped aweb

portal to streamline the incentive disbursement

process. It will assist in bene�iciary registration,

veri�ication, physical veri�ication and incentive

disbursement within 10 days of the application. A

mobile app has also been developed and linkedwith

thewebportal.Theapphasfeaturestocaptureimages,

whichcouldbegeo-tagged.UDHDhasalsodevelopeda

similarweb portal to track the campaign progress at

regularinterval.

Orientation of PRI members on

communityapproaches

Honorable Chief Minister, Mr. Nitish Kumar oriented

allthenewlyelectedmembersofthree-tierPanchayati

Raj Institutionson21stand22nd July2016overvideo

conference in their respective Districts. In this

orientation, Community led approach to eliminate

open defecation and ODF Campaign roll-out strategy

werealsoincludedasathemebytheDistricttoutilize

the platform. Mr Indraneel Ghosh, Mr Ashish Kumar

and Mr Shashi Bhushan Pandey facilitated these

sessionsintheSitamarhi,BuxarandDarbhanga.

2

Launchof“ShouchalayNirman-HarGharKaSamman”and“Har

GharNalKaJal”resolvesoftheGovernmentbyHon.ChiefMinister

ofBihar

Joining hands for ODF Belsand Sub-

Division, Sitamarhi

The Swachh Sitamarhi campaign was launched by the

Mr. Rajiv Raushan, District Magistrate in October 2015.

In the �irst phase, four Panchayats were facilitated to

become Open Defecation Free (ODF). The Social &

Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) tools

included mass media messages as well as

interpersonal communication was developed and

helped the district in achieving the selected four

Panchayats ODF within one month only. The successful

implementation of the phase-1 campaign encouraged

the PRIs of �ifth Panchayat (Nanpur North) to adopt

this model and efforts were made to declare its ODF

status in August, 2016.

Recognition and advocacy of Phase-1 success has

created a large demand for similar action in several

Panchayats throughout the district and the State. In the

run up to make Sitamarhi ODF, the district has

developed a detailed plan to achieve the goal by July

2017. In a �irst major scale-up, the district has taken

one block – Nanpur and one subdivision – Belsand to

facilitate ODF by 2nd October 2016. As per the District

Action Plan, various community and social

mobilization activities started in the selected Block and

Sub-Division. The massive mobilization effort of the

District was to form a human chain to seek the

commitment of the communities towards the goal of

ODF.

The morning of 6th September, 2016 blew the bugle of

the second phase of the Sanitation movement in

Sitamarhi district. An aura of festivity was seen with

men and women �launting their best clothes and

children attired in their crisp school uniforms vying to

make themselves visible, shouting in one voice, “nahi

karenge,nahikarenge,khulemeshauchnahikarenge”.

30,000 young and old, male and female, all rushing to

join hands to form a human chain through a long

stretch of 30 KMs in Belsund sub-division. This was

added the resolve to strive towards making Nanpur

block open defecation free (ODF) in the second phase

together with Belsand and Parsauni by 2nd October,

2016.

People of Sitamarhi have shown exemplary courage in

making �ive Panchayats open defecation free through

collective behaviour change. The same commitment

was seen on the occasion of forming human chain by

joining hands. District Magistrate with his team

participated in the event and forti�ied the community

action towards ODF. Gracing the occasion were some

dignitaries, prominent among them being MP from

Sheohar, local MLA and Mr. Pravin More, WASH

Specialist, UNICEF.

In the Second Phase, the target of the District is to

make 16 Panchayats of Belsund and Parsauni Blocks of

Belsand Sub-division open defecation free along with

14 Panchayats of Nanpur Block on 2nd October, 2016.

District under “Swachh Sitamarhi Campaign” explores

all possible ways to establish community contact

towards achieving the goal of ODF District. Cycle Rally,

Sport Competitions, Sanitation Drive and School led

events, to name a few, are the community contact

events organized by the District in the recent past.

Many such innovative events are planned under the

Sitamarhi ODF campaign to mobilize the community

towards ODF District.

FromtheField

3

DistrictMagistrateandlocalMLAjoinedhandstoformHumanChain

Workshop on District-Wide

approachtoEliminateOD

DistrictSamastipurisstrivingtowardsthegoalofODF

District within the set time frame under Lohiya

Swachh Bihar Abhiyan.Inthisregard,theDistrictWater

and Sanitation Committee (DWSC) organized a one-

day orientation for all the District and Block level

of�icials to develop an understanding on achieving

District ODF. Samastipur is being supported by Aga

Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP). In the

workshop,Mr.PravinMore,WASHSpecialist,UNICEF

shared the experience of District-wide approach to

eliminate open defecation. UNICEF is extending

technical assistance to four districts - Sitamarhi,

Vaishali, Rohtas and Khagaria - to eliminate open

defecation.

SwachhVidyalayaPuraskar

The Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar is instituted by the

Ministry of Human Resource Development,

Government of India to recognize, inspire and

celebrateexcellenceinsanitationandhygienepractice

inSchoolsundertheSwachhBharatSwachhVidyalaya

(SBSV)Campaign.Undertheinitiative,schoolswereto

apply for the reward based on the performance

indicatorsthroughtheonlineportal.Tomaketheuser

conversant with the online application system, Bihar

From the Field

EducationProjectCouncil (BEPC)with the supportof

UNICEF organized a half-day workshop in Patna on

15thJuly2016.Concernedof�icialsandcoordinatorsof

theStateandDistrictparticipatedinthisworkshop.

Mr. Dharmendra Singh Gangwar, Principal Secretary,

Education inaugurated the workshop. Mr. Sanjay

KumarSingh,StateProjectDirector,BEPCchairedthe

workshop. The chairperson appreciated the initiative

to acknowledge the best practices of the Schools.Ms.

MamitaBoraThakkar,UNICEFfacilitatedthetechnical

sessions.Prof.ShrinivasCharyVedalafromASCI,

TrainingsonCLTS

Under the capacity building support of UNICEF, 100

community volunteers and women from JEEViKA

groupweretrainedonCLTSapproachbetween8thand

12thJuly2016inVaishaliwiththesupportofresource

agency - Feedback Foundation. Immediately after the

training, all the trained resourceswere placed in the

identi�ied Panchayats along Ganga. A full-time expert

from Feedback Foundation has also been deputed in

Vaishali tohandhold the trained resourcesduring the

communitymobilizationprocess.

OntherequestofDistrictAdministration,onebatchof

CLTS training for 80 community motivators was

conductedfrom19thto23rdAugust2016inDarbhanga.

In the scale-upphase, after successfully facilitationof

Sanjhouli Block ODF in 55 days, one batch CLTS

training was organized for 77 participants from 29th

Augustto2ndSeptember2016inRohtasDistrict.

From 6th to 12th September 2016, Community

Immersion Module (CIM) was rolled-out with 248

participantscombiningtrainedCLTSresourcepersons

and newly selected community motivators in Rohtas

District. CIM is a community engagement strategy to

facilitate a Panchayat to attain ODF status within a

short span of time. Under 7-Days CIM exercise, the

teamworked in10Panchayats of the3 selectedODF

Blocks to create demand for sanitation and eliminate

opendefecation.AftertheCIM,thetrainedmotivators

joined the three Block teams placed in Suryapura,

Nokha and Tilothu. Three specialists from Feedback

Foundationwerealsosupported inRohtasDistrictby

UNICEFinthescale-upphase.

One batch CLTS training was organized in Khararia

Districtfor49participantsfrom17thto21stSeptember

2016 for scaling-up the ODF campaign. The trained

CLTS resources were deputed in the 12 Panchayats

located along the Ganges and seven Panchayats in

MansiBlocktheDistrict.

4

Mr.PravinMorefromUNICEFsharingexperiencesintheWorkshop

OpeningceremonyofworkshoponSwachhVidyalayaPuraskar

Effective utilization of available

catchments to promote groundwater

recharge in Vaishali

Low rainfall over two consecutive years substantially

affected the groundwater levels in Vaishali. GoB

reportsindicatedloweringofthegroundwatertablein

May 2016. Many households having own source of

drinking water (shallow hand-pumps) experienced

drying of the sources. The Chief Minister, during the

divisionalreviewinthemonthofJune2016expressed

concerns over the impending water crisis. It was an

early warning for the world’s richest groundwater

delta(Gangabasin).

Sensing the future crisis, Ms Rachana Patil, District

Magistrate launched a massive drive to recharge the

groundwater. On 24th July 2016, Ms Patil launched

“MissionWater24x7”toaddressthecrisis.Priortothe

launch,adetailedcampaigndesignandactionplanwas

developedtocoverallgovernmentbuildingsincluding

schools, Anganwadi centers, health centers, public

distribution shops. Preparatory activities began with

theorientation of all theDistrict of�icials on 16th July

2016. Ms Patil herself took the lead in orienting the

functionaries on the need, various cost-effective

rainwater harvesting techniques. UNICEF assisted by

developingstandardrainwaterharvestingmodule,IEC

design and orientation. A massive awareness drive

followedtheorientations.

On24thJuly,MsPatilinaugurated‘MissionWater24X7’

atS.M.S.HighSchoolinthepresenceoflocalMLAand

all the district level of�icials. Mr Pravin More, Mr

Ashish Kumar, Mr Indraneel Ghosh and Mr Manish

KumarrepresentedUNICEFatthefunction.

Bytheeveningof24thJuly,7,659rainwaterharvesting

structures were installed in the Government/Semi-

Government buildings covering a catchment area of

morethan74Lakhssq.ft.Itisexpectedthataround80

Crore litres of water per year will be recharged,

considering 1,168 mm average annual rainfall in

Vaishali District. The key message sent across in the

event was to conserve the rainwater for recharging

groundwater.

Hyderabad shared the detailed process of the online

applicationoverSkype.

All the 38 district teams participated in the online

application process and 9,483 schools registered

successfully for the claim of their recognition on the

onlineportal,aspertheministrywebsite.

Handwashing Innovation in

Sitamarhi

Handwashingatcriticaltimesisanimportanthabitin

the�ightagainstthegermsresponsiblefor80percent

waterandsanitationrelateddiseases.Toinculcatethe

good practices of handwashing among children, the

Sitamarhi district administration has added the

component ofWater, Sanitation andHygiene (WASH)

in Schools. As part of the initiative, a group

handwashing station is proposed in each school.

UNICEF has supported installation of group

handwashing units in 16 schools (one in each Gram

Panchayat of Belsand Sub-division) as a

demonstration. The district administration is

mobilising funds for installation similar units in the

remainingschoolsoftheBelsandsub-divisoin.

Prior to the installation of handwashing stations, the

School Management Committees and the teachers

wereorientedonthetechnicalaspectsofhandwashing

stations and ensuring the security of the assets. The

handwashing stations are designed to facilitate

handwashingfor12studentsatatime.BalSansadand

MeenaManch memberswere also sensitized to ensure

sustainability of these installed units at local level.

These handwashing units are expected to contribute

towards inculcating the habit of handwashing among

thefuturegenerations.

Innovation

5

HandwashingStationinstalledinM.SMadhokaul,Belsand

InaugurationoftheCampaignbyDistrictMagistrateinpresenceof

dignitaries,WASHSpecialist,UNICEFandGovernmentof,icials

Weinviteyourcommentsandsuggestions.

Pleasewritetous:pmore@unicef.org,ashishapri@gmail.com

ExecutiveEditor:PravinMore,WASHSpecialist,UNICEF,Editor:AshishKumar

EditorialTeam:NanakSantdasani,NipurnhGupta,IndraneelGhosh,ShashiBhushanPandey,Dr.GautamBasu,

JoyBiswas,ManishSingh&RamanKumar

Contributions:ODFteamsofSitmarhi,Vaishali,KhagariaandRohtas

ForPrivateCirculationOnly

Disclaimer:Theviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthorsanddonotnecessarilyre,lecttheof,icialpolicyorpositionofUNICEF.

From the Field

The teamacknowledges the support and encouragement byUNICEFSeniorManagement:MrYameenMazumder,

Chief,BiharFieldOf�ice(BFO);MrShivendraPandeya,ProgrammeManager,BFO;MsSuzanneJCoates,Chief,WASH,

India;MrFrancisOdhiamboandMrSujoyMujumdar,WASHSpecialists,India.

… Continued from Page 1

frontline functionaries, in eachPanchayat to facilitate

the community process. 15th August was set as the

targetdatetodeclaretheblockODFbyensuringaccess

tolatrineforallthefamilies.Thekeystrategiesofthe

ODF campaign were - community focused

mobilization, active participation of women, mass

mobilizationthroughvariouscommunicationtools,the

spiritual connect, linkagewith �inancial institutions&

materialsuppliersandtheadministrativeconvergence

ofalldepartments.

During the ODF Block drive, the DWSC faced many

challenges. The key challenges were - a mismatch

between the baseline data and actual bene�iciaries,

familieshavingno/limitedlandfortoiletconstruction

and lack of investment capacity among the poor. The

DWSC proactively sorted all the constraints. Some of

the innovative solutions to address the challenges

included: adopting one house one toilet strategy,

building cluster toilets for landless families/ families

having limited land. Banks extended credit facility, at

fourpercentannualinterest,tothepoorerhouseholds

through Joint Loan Groups (JLG). In only 55 days, all

the6GramPanchayatsbecomeODFandaround6,000

families built their toilet. About 50,000 population of

theblockstoppedopendefecation.

The administration, under the leadership of Mr.

Animesh Parashar, arranged the team deployment

such that the of�icers across all the blocks played an

active role in the campaign. The approach is now

helpingInnovativestrategiesdeployedfromtime-time

sustained the momentum through the campaign

period. Some of the innovations were, the entire

district administration spending one night in the

village, organizing cultural evenings and campaigns

like ‘Behen Beti Samman’, launchedon19 July2016.

Behen Beti Samaroh designed around the dignity of

women was organized every week. Brother, Father,

Husband, Father-in-law gifted a toilet to the women,

girls. The campaign theme ‘dignity and self-pride’

facilitated the heterogeneous communities towards

buildingaSamman Ghar–atoiletonpriority.

UNICEF is providing technical assistance to the

campaign. The support includes campaign

conceptualization,capacitybuildingofCLTSmotivator

and mason training, communication materials,

handholding support in social andbehaviourchange/

inter-personal communication and implementation

monitoring. CLTS and Mason trainings helped in

developing a cadre of community motivators and

masons for mobilization and effective toilet

construction.A teamofexperts from theUNICEFand

UNICEF supported Feedback Foundation extended

theirassistanceingapidenti�icationandtimelyaction

inmakingtheBlockODF.

The Sanjhouli success is a major boost for Rohtas

towards the bigger goal of achieving District ODF.

‘Mission Pratistha’ has already taken �irm steps to

realizetheODFgoalwithinnextoneyearwitha �leet

of local champions and dedicated workers who are

readytotriggerandcreatemoreODFBlocks.Scaling-

up the movement, the District targets three more

Blocks–Nokha,SuryapuraandTilothu,onefromeach

Sub-Division,toachieveODFby2ndOctober2016.