Ratanpura Mahila Sabha Take Village Sanitation Issues In Stride

A Mahila Sabha is a women’s meeting that takes place before the Gram Sabha, to address their issues. Kalpana Mali is a media activist based in the Dhule Region of North Maharashtra. She realised the importance of these meetings, to organise and empower them. As part of her work in 15 villages, she is most passionate about organising and collectivising women for these meetings. Convincing the women to own their narrative and form a collective has been a challenge for her, owing to the deeply rooted patriarchal norms and structures of these villages. She has gone from house to house explaining the importance of these meetings and encouraging women to attend them. Her connection with these women has led to successful meetings in each of the five villages in Dhule Taluka. Ratanpura is a village seemingly free from open defecation, but that is the case only on paper. The open gutters in the village are the reason for the spread of many diseases. Kalpana decided to talk about this to the village womenfolk and soon they began sharing their plight with defecating in the open. They wrote their problems in proceedings that Kalpana explained to them and submitted an application to The Sarpanch and Gramsevak. The issue was taken up by the Sarpanch who informed that it wouldn’t be easy to resolve the issue, as the village has been declared open defecation free on paper. The initiative taken by Kalpana and women has however begun a dialogue that is being used to hold officials accountable, as days of fooling villagers come to an end.

SOURCE: Abhivyakti Media for Development