Mirchpur among 2 Hisar villages showing reluctance

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, January 23

Except for two, all other 306 villages have been declared open defecation-free (ODF) in the district.

Making the two villages, Mirchpur and Patan, ODF is a challenge for the authorities as their residents are not ready to make amends to the age-old practice of relieving oneself in the open.

The district authorities said their seven-month efforts on persuading villagers to give up the habit of defecating in the open proved successful. “But an anti-establishment attitude of residents of trouble-torn Mirchpur seems to be a stumbling block in the administration’s efforts,” said a senior official, adding that a team of villagers and district officials had been campaigning in the village for the past several months to spread awareness on the ill-effects of defecating in the open.

An official said a section of villagers was sceptic to the administration. “They don’t want to listen to us. They would take some more time to give up on their adamant attitude. We are persistent with our efforts. Prominent persons of the village from various communities are associated with the ODF campaign,” he said.

Similarly, a section of residents of Patan village are also adamant on their old habit and not cooperating with the authorities.

Patan sarpanch Rajesh Kumar said around 50 houses were still not ready to shun the habit of going out to relieve themselves. “Though these families have toilets at their homes, they are yet to abstain from defecating in the open. I am sure they would be persuaded soon,” he said.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Vijay Kumar said they had been working on bringing about a behavioural change in the adamant villagers. “It takes time to change someone’s behaviour. But we have been able to deliver our message to the residents of the two villages in an effective manner. I hope they would switch to using toilets,” he said, adding that all villages were likely to be announced as ODF by January 26.

The ADC said the administration would launch the ODF Plus scheme to create required infrastructure in villages.