Status report of CDD-WATSAN activities operated by Ramakrishna Mission Lokasiksha Parishad, Narendrapur

The ultimate objective of a Control of Diarrhoeal Disease (CDD) Programme is to reduce diarrhoeal mortality and morbidity especially in under-5 age group children by providing safe water and sanitation facilities, promoting personal hygiene practices, and encouraging home management of diarrhoeal cases with ORT. An integrated strategy, involving the West Bengal State Government, the Ramakrishna Mission Lokasiksha Parishad, and UNICEF was formulated in 1992 for Medinipore district to produce a model for reducing diarrhoea cases by 25% through universal access to safe drinking water, improving coverage of sanitation facilities and the promotion of ORT, and to develop ways to foster intersectoral collaboration, laying stress on community based convergent services. This status report evaluates the success of the strategy. The report assesses the status as of October 1997 of various activities implemented under this CDD-WATSAN strategy. Since the project emphasized advocacy in order to generate a demand for sanitation facilities, the report evaluates the success of advocacy materials such as films, posters, flash cards and leaflets in terms of the number of household latrines installed under the strategy. The number of workers trained as village motivators, village masons, handpump caretakers and other project oriented occupations since the inception of the project is summarized. Details are included about the ORS promotion programme, the safe water supply programme, and the income generation aspects of the project. Although the self-financing approach was not accepted by the community at first, advances have been made especially among lower and middle income group families and attitudes have changed from approving open air defecation to recognizing the benefits of low cost household latrines. As a result, the State Government has accepted the Medinipore model for all districts of West Bengal and, as well, a number of other State Governments have introduced self-financed sanitary projects in their areas, substantially reduced the quantum of sudsidy, and involved village organizations in the implementation of this programme. In villages where more than 80% of households have adopted the low cost latrine and other facilities, the impact on health, as well as on social and motivational aspects, has been significant.