An Indian village’s fight to take the ‘poo to the loo’

DUNGARPUR: Indian farmer Kokila Damor always looked forward to visiting the city hospital, but only so that she could use its toilet. Now she is not only a proud toilet owner but a sanitation champion for other villagers in the state of Rajasthan who have been used to defecating in the open since time immemorial. “Having a toilet has changed my life. I can sleep a bit more. Earlier I had to rush out at four in the morning,” said Damor, a 34-year-old mother of three. “I would always look for an excuse to go to the hospital as I loved using a proper toilet with a door, water and lights,” she said. Before, during autumn it would be a struggle to find a secluded spot amidst the bare trees, while in the rainy season her hands would hurt from holding an umbrella — to say nothing of the fear of being spotted. But Bhuwalia, her village, is one of the success stories of a public health drive launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — host of a sanitation summit in Delhi this week — on taking office in 2014.