SHILLONG: The Society for Action in Community Health (SACH), an NGO, is implementing the School Sanitation Project (SSP) in 124 schools across four districts in Meghalaya with the spirit of Swachh Bharat Abihyan.
Surendra Panwar, vice president of SACH told The Shillong Times that earlier students would relieve themselves on open spaces but now, “schools have benefited from the project as better sanitation facilities are available.”
However, SACH’s endeavour comes with challenges like bad roads, weather conditions and local intruders.
“During the construction period, some places were so inaccessible, like Pynker A, Pynker B and Pynker C villages in Ri Bhoi, that we had to carry the raw materials on an elephant,” said Panwar.
SACH has also constructed a 600-m road in Hinguria, East Jaintia Hills, a remote village along the Indo-Bangladesh border that was outside the project plan, as the road was abysmal. The projects for different schools in the four districts – East Khasi Hills, Ri Bhoi, Jaintia Hills and West Khasi Hills – were funded by HDFC Bank as part of its CSR project.
SACH was overwhelmed by the response of the community leaders, teachers, students and other stakeholders. Panwar said, “We received very good response from the people. In few places, people were apprehensive thinking that we are government agencies. However, we convinced them and later we won their support.”
The SACH vice president said the rural schools in the State are in dire need of infrastructure and the NGO will construct boundary walls in some schools. Open defecation in villages is another challenge, he added. Commenting on what led SACH to start the sanitation programme, Panwar said, “Recently, there was a renewed focus on sanitation following the implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission. We felt that there was a need to start the campaign from schools as children have to learn about sanitation.”
On the cost front, Panwar said the cost of sanitation project was around Rs 4-5 lakh, but it depends on the needs of a school. Construction of sanitation units are done after assessment of the schools. The community resource persons regularly monitor these newly constructed SSPs and even constituted School Sanitation Management Committees (SSMCs) which comprise of representatives from students, teachers and the cleaning staff. Apart from SSP, SACH also has initiated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme in Meghalaya in June 2016 and it will end in May 2017. It is aimed at educating students on how to monitor the sanitation units.
The SACH WASH team has been able to encourage the school authorities to set up SSMCs in 119 schools with powers of fixing accountability.
Besides, short films and pamphlets, students’ rallies and painting competitions on WASH were utilised to draw the attention of the stakeholders.
Meanwhile, a statement from a HDFC Bank official said, “Our focus is not only in providing sanitation infrastructure but it also encompasses behavioural change.”
“We believe that the family and school play a key role in shaping a child’s life and hence our WASH programme integrates these stakeholders into bringing a sustainable behavioural change in schools as well as at the community level,” the statement said.
On SACH
SACH was the brainchild of medical professionals founded in 1988 with an intention to improve the access of the urban poor to public health services in India.
SACH has participated in the “Clean Ganga” campaign. In addition, SACH conducts environmental education to rural community and students, promotion of sustainable agriculture, livestock development.
