New Delhi, November 17, 2023: In the week of World Toilet Day on November 19, Swades Foundation will hand over 20+ toilets to families in the tribal belt of Surgana, Nashik, bringing the total number of household toilets provided by the foundation in rural Maharashtra to 30,250 over the past 10 years. For most people partaking in the celebration, they are the first generation to have a toilet in the home.
Each of these toilets has a compost pit that breaks down faecal matter and turns it into compost that can be later used in the fields. The community is trained to periodically clear the pits. Having transitioned from the previous model, the toilets are now constructed under the foundation’s community-led sanitation programme where the community takes ownership of the programme and also aids local employment by engaging local masons.
Speaking on their work on sanitation, Swades Foundation CEO Mangesh Wange said, “Sanitation is a very important cornerstone of public health. But it also plays a big role in providing safety and dignity to the community. At Swades, we build individual household toilets for each home in our rural geographies so that this basic facility that we take for granted in the cities is made available to every man, woman and child in our villages. With our new community-led sanitation program, we empower the community to take the lead in building their own toilet making it cost-effective, which will enable us to scale our operations significantly. We look forward to making many of our villages ODF in the coming future."
Water and Sanitation Impact
- Swades has constructed toilets in 30,277 homes across Raigad and Nashik.
- 1,503 hamlets are verified as Open Defecation Free (ODF) due to Swades intervention.
- Built 724 drinking water schemes with taps in 42,394 homes impacting ~208,128 lives
- 251 schools provided with water and sanitation facilities (separate toilets for boys and girls)
