Justice and Human Rights India Project #19570

Build 40 toilets for migrant workers in India

by Maitri India

Project Report | Aug 1, 2017
Building toilets; Bridging lives

By Manisha | Communications and Fundraising Officer

Initially under the second phase and third phases, six bio toilets in 6 garages, and 10 bio toilets have been initiated in 2 garages and 4 urban slums of Ranchi Municipal Corporation. These initiatives are for the benefits of more than 700 rickshaw pullers.

Maitri believes that this outreach work will be instrumental in shaping as wellas adding on to the work with rickshaw pullers.As per a report from WorldHealth Organization (WHO), more than 700 million people in India lack access to toilets and sanitation. They defecate in open fields, water sources or other sources, which again leads to different kind of diseases and pollutions. These figures are alarming because not only it constitutes half of the entire population of India but also is more than twice the number of people practicing open defecation in 18 different countries combined. Maitri is hopeful that construction of toilets in these garages will end the practice of open defection, and will be one step towards accessing public health right in India.

Camps focusing on generating awareness and disseminating information

While construction of toilets is a continuing process, Maitri organizes different kind of activates and camps to strengthen developmental work with migrant workers. BCC camps were organized to improve understanding and generate awareness around the rights available. The camps helped in explaining as well as disseminating important information regarding usage and importance of UID, ration card, BPL cards, bank account etc. Rickshaw pullers are also playing an active role in demanding their rights. The camps are also becoming more interactive in nature and have moved towards a new phase where important dialogues about concepts of identity, dignity and respect are being
exchanged.

One of the topics discussed at every camp is the need to follow proper health and sanitation practices. We live in a country where thousands die every year because of diseases transmitted through human waste. As per a report submitted by WaterAid, more than 140,000 under-fives die in India each year from diarrhea. The discussions got a lot of support as well as the needs to built toilets were welcomed with an affirmative yes. These camps are important for awareness as well as hanging behaviors. In places where toilets are constructed, because of lack of effective awareness and discussion, people don't adapt themselves to these changes. Culture related obstacles; lack of proper campaigning creates obstacles in this process. Maître has noticed effective changes and impacts of creating dialogues and awareness with people. Rickshaw pullers who are mostly migrant population are now not just self aware, but want to replicate the same in their homes and villages they belong to.

Case study: An example of positive impact.

“When I started pulling rickshaw 18 years back, rent to hire a rickshaw was 2 INR and I managed to earn 120 to 150 INR daily. I gave 2 INR as rent and used to spend some on food and could manage to save upto 7 to 8 INR at the end of the day”. -One of the benefeciaries of the project.

Today , he is 53 year old and earns around 250 INR per day from which he pays 40 INR to owner of the garage as rent. He spends around 10-15 INR for food and buys groceries with the rest amount. He manages to save around 100 INR per day. He has been in the vocation of rickshaw pulling from past 18years. He has his own house in Jhiri village, Ranchi. He hires rickshaw on rent from Vijay garage. He commutes from his village to the city for earning livelihood on a daily basis. He lives with his two sons and he lost his wife to anaemia. His elder son works for Ranchi Municipal Corporation as a rag picker from which he earns 5, 500 INR per month and younger son work as a labourer. The elder son is married and has two daughters and a son. After getting information about ration card and its usage through Maitri’s BCC camps organized at the Vijay garage, Shivnath applied for all relevant documents and received them too. Now he receives ration too.

He lives in a mud house with no toilet facilities. After witnessing the toilets built by Maitri, he is hopeful to construct one toilet in his area as well.However he is not able to get an application from the Mukhiya. He is deeply inspired from the work and activities of Maitri and is determined to build a toilet in his area. He acknowledges how building a toilet is a step towards accessing health right and hence a step towards a life of respect and dignity. Better toilets can lead to better lives. He is grateful for Maitri for working towards improving lives and making a difference.

Construction of toilets in Vijay Garage

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May 1, 2017
Way Forward! Third Phase Plan!

By Arushi Dhawan | Project Officer

Construction work in progress

Under the intervention, six bio toilets have been constructed each in the second phase in six garages, Maitri is working with, in Ranchi.

More than 700 rickshaw pullers are the beneficiaries of the intervention. All the 6 garages have proper water availability (well and supply water).

During the third phase under the intervention, we intend to construct 10 bio toilets in 2 garages and 4 urban slums of the Ranchi Municipal Corporation. It is our effort to seek cooperation and support from the designated authority (Garage owners and Community Representative), thus, catering to the general masses of these slum areas.

Maitri aims to seek behavior change in the beneficiaries and is doing outreach for the same.

Case study on positive impact of the intervention

Dev Nandan (40 years old) when spoken to, said that he has been pulling rickshaw since 2002 and has been living in SRK garage, where Maitri is working, from the last two years. He hails from Latehar district of Jharkhand and his family lives in the village. SLK garage is one such garage where toilets were constructed because of Maitri’s constant efforts to bring hygiene and sanitation in the lives of rickshaw pullers.

He shared, “Earlier we used to go out in open for defecation but we used to face so much problems like passersby used to call us names, we had to use places areas where garbage is thrown etc. which was extremely unhygienic with flies and mosquitoes as well as humiliation of no privacy. We knew it was not good for our health and the environment also gets polluted, yet unfortunately we had no choices. Maitri team convinced Mr.Suresh (garage owner) and us about the disadvantages of open defecation and benefits (health, hygiene, sanitation, environment, dignity) of using a toilet. We became increasingly aware and finally Mr.Suresh was motivated to allow construction of two toilets constructed in the garage.”

Maitri’s outreach interventions brought about change in the attitudes and behavior of not only the rickshaw pullers and the owner but it extended beyond to their families as well. Mr.Dev expressed, “After I got in the habit of using a toilet, I realized how this little change in our lives has brought about a huge transformation in our daily lives. It spares us the humiliation, social awkwardness, health risk and most importantly has led us to the realization that we too deserve a hygienic life for our families and us saving from disease and infection. I felt guilty that my wife and daughters and other family members had to go out in the open for defecation in the village and I decided and built toilet at my home for my family’s use.”

He further added that he and his fellow rickshaw pullers in the garage have a feeling of shared responsibility towards keeping the toilets clean and maintained. He also expressed his gratitude towards Maitri for working for the betterment of their lives.

Pit dug for the construction of Toilets.

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Feb 2, 2017
Second Phase of toilet construction in full swing

By Aprajita Mishra & Tara Rana | Project Coordinator & Communications Officer

Amit, owner of Amit Rickshaw Garage

As reflected in the feasibility study undertaken for Project Adhikar, 35.6% of Rickshaw Pullers (RPs) out of 1000 selected for the study live in the garages and other places that substantially lack basic amenities like inadequate access to safe water, inadequate access to sanitation and other infrastructure, poor structural quality of shelter, etc. These factors invariably take a toll on RPs health, affecting their productivity largely, thus, marring their livelihood.

Construction of Bio-Toilets and ensuring their proper usage will go a long way in improving their living and health conditions. Amit, owner of the Amit garage, where a large number of Rickshaw Pullers live, is a good example of how having access to sanitation facility has a very positive impact on the well being of the RPs. This twenty years old garage is the source of livelihood to roughly 200 RPs and home to around 70 RPs. As such, the responsibility as well as the liability of the RPs inevitably lies with Amit, who is equally keen to work towards their betterment.

Amit garage is one of the garages where bio toilets have been built in the first phase of the intervention. Amit said that earlier the RPs had no choice but to go out in the open to attend nature’s call but since the garage is set in an urban locale, the RPs faced space constraints, public glare and embarrassment. He even told that though he has proper water facility in his garage (supply and well), it never really struck him to build a toilet for the RPs until Maitri approached with the concept.

Amit said Maitri’s association with the garage and its constant efforts through various interventions over the years has positively affected the lives of the so many RPs. This is visibly evident in their day to day life as they are adopting good habits and hygiene practices with proper understanding of the same, thus, working towards improving, not only their lives, but that of their families and eventually their community.

Until now, under the project, 14 bio toilets have been constructed and are duly used in the first phase of the intervention in the five garages. The RPs are happy with the result of the intervention and are glad that the bio toilets are really as effective as they were told. They are using the toilets without any reluctance anymore and are eventually getting used to the habit to the extent that they are keen to get bio toilet constructed in their home for the usage of their families.

After successful implementation of the first phase of construction of bio toilets, there is an air excitement and a general acceptance amongst the RPs of garages where toilets are to be constructed in the second phase. This is the result of promotion of the intervention through word of mouth and experience sharing by the RPs amongst their peers.

In the second phase we are preparing to construction bio-toilets in the following garages.

Vijay Garage
Sunil Garage
Mitu Garage
Santosh Garage
Jagdish Garage
Anil Garage

Approximately 700 RPs are going to benefit from the intervention. All the 6 garages have proper water availability (either well or supply water). The construction is in the full swing at the moment. Moving forward, Maitri intends to construct bio-toilets in the four urban slum communities in and around Ranchi city.

Thank you for supporting the project and enabling us to improve the living conditions of the RPs in Ranchi. We hope to work in more garages and cater to many more RPs in Ranchi.

Construction for bio-toilet at Mithu Garage

Toilet Cabin Construstion

Construction work at Jagdish Bagla

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