RAIPUR: Some 25 women from a panchayat in Bastar – mostly ‘bahus’ who have married into the villages – walked over 25km to the Jagdalpur district headquarters on Wednesday to demand toilets, saying they are embarrassed to have to go out to relieve themselves.
The irony is that the region they call home – Lendra panchayat in Darbha block – was among the first few panchayats in Bastar to get open-defecation-free (ODF) tag in 2015-16.
The women, most of whom moved to Lendra’s Manjhigudapara village after marriage in the last 10 years, complained that they have never seen a toilet in all this while. They told officials that they have to go out of their homes to relieve themselves, and it’s obvious to the whole village where they are headed to.
The women have warned that they will launch a protest if their demand isn’t met. They are tired of pleading with local officials and representatives.
“It’s our votes that elect our representatives and we expect them to listen to our problems. We will see who solves our problem,” said Damyanti Baghel, as the others said, “We have walked this far in this sweltering heat. Our voice must be heard.”
The women had marched from Lendra to Jagdalpur, children in laps or in tow, to meet the collector. Officials said he couldn’t meet them as he was busy in a meeting.
“We are here to demand the very basic rights as citizens – toilets at home, drinking water, an anganwadi centre and a ‘mitanin’ (nurse). We have not seen toilets in the past 10 years. We went to the sarpanch first and he assured us that he would do something, but he never got back to us. Besides, we just have two water sources in the villages.”
TOI spoke with Laxmi Rajwade, minister for women and child welfare, and she said she wasn’t aware about such a padyatra for toilets. “I plan to visit Bastar next month. I’ll definitely look into this case and meet the women,” she said.
Life for these women is extremely difficult, especially for those who came here as brides. All of them recounted how the morning after their wedding brought shock and despair when they didn’t find a toilet in their husband’s home. “Us, shy, newly-wed brides would tip-toe outside, with eyes on the road. Other women of the family or the village would show us the way to an isolated place, which would change almost every day,” said one.
Moti Baghel, who was among the 25 padyatris, said, “It’s an everyday difficulty. And extremely embarrassing. We dare not go out alone for fear of drunkards and anti-socials who harass us. Men often follow us and some climb trees to ‘have a look’. Imagine our daily plight.”
A few lucky ones get to use toilets at others’ homes, but it’s not an arrangement that can resolve their daily trouble.
TOI called up Lendra sarpanch Dirnath Kashyap who said that the panchayat was declared ODF in 2015-16. “In the past 10 years, most of the married women have begun staying separate from their in-laws and shifted to new houses.
These new houses don’t have toilets. They had informed me of their ordeal and I contacted Swachh Bharat mission people who assured me that they would get toilets constructed, but it will take some time,” Kashyap told TOI.
Asked about water, the sarpanch said work on Jal Jeevan Mission is underway and the village will soon get piped water. He said the village has one anganwadi but it’s far from Manjhigudapara, and they wish to have a separate centre so that their children can easily go to school. busy in meetings.