Seventy-seven girls, and their family members in villages near Pollachi got toilets at their house for the first time.
The toilets were constructed under the Art of Living Foundation’s Happy Village Project. The project is aimed at protecting dignity of women and their right to safe sanitation practices.
Construction of toilets was initiated by Anand Purushothaman, managing director of Payoda Technologies and apex body member of the Art of Living Foundation in Tamil Nadu, and his team. One of the volunteers Sasirekha Vengatesh told The Hindu that many women preferred to walk a long distance to ease themselves than digesting the concept of having a toilet in their house.
Some of the aged women said that taking a walk from their village to a secluded place for easing themselves was the only time that they took a break from routine chores.
Ms. Sasirekha said that some houses had big LED TVs but not a toilet.
After doing a survey in 10 villages in and around Pollachi, and a village in Kuniyamuthur, it was decided to construct 108 toilets. Priority was given to houses that have girl students.
Villages where the toilets were constructed are Kothawadi, Sadhegowdenpalayam, Aachipatti, Sangampalayam, Okkillipalayam, Mettupalayam, Palanikavundanpudur, Kuniamuthur and Tamaraikullam.
The villagers were told about the advantages of using toilets. Each toilet cost about Rs. 20,000. This was funded by business firms, and volunteers. The foundation has planed to construct 10,008 toilets in the next three years. Those interested in joining the team can call phone: 9841199529.
