Poonam Singh, 36, prefers to call herself a proud Swachhagrahi.
Having worked for the Swachh Bharat Mission as a dedicated volunteer, she is credited with facilitating the construction of 985 toilets and make three villages Open Defecation Free (ODF) in Azamgarh’s Phahlni block.
“I wanted to make a difference to my community and decided to create awareness among people on the importance of using toilets. As a result of our collective efforts, 985 toilets were constructed in Jairampur Gram Panchayat and three villages have been declared ODF,” said Poonam.
“Poor sanitation in our village was making children unhealthy and susceptible to water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea. Also, I felt that access to toilets was very crucial for women in particular. The humiliation of relieving oneself in the open, fear of being harassed, experiencing violence and psycho-social stress was taking a toll,” said Poonam, who started off with getting a toilet in her village.
“I was pained to see that everyday women of her native village had to get up early morning even before sun could come to horizon only to relieve herself in open away from people’s eye. It was then that I had decided to bring about awareness among people to strive for dignity and construct one toilet in their house,” she said.
All this was possible because of the unconditional support she got from her husband, Ajay Kumar Singh, mother-in-law Radhika Singh and father in law Kedarnath Singh.
{{/usCountry}}All this was possible because of the unconditional support she got from her husband, Ajay Kumar Singh, mother-in-law Radhika Singh and father in law Kedarnath Singh.
{{/usCountry}}“But it was my nephew Satyendra Pratap Singh who stood by side and helped me complete my education. I was just Class 8 passed when I got married. But he encouraged me to study further and gradually I realised that I should strive to spread awareness for health and hygeine in the community,” she said.
Poonam also organised various programmes on school sanitation with students that positively impacted the percentage of toilet usage in the school. As a result of her efforts, the girls who had dropped out from Upper Primary School, Uncha Gaon and Ukrauda have again enrolled themselves in school.
As a member of District Resource Group, Poonam facilitated trainings in different development blocks.
Simultaneously, under the Menstrual Hygiene Management component, she encouraged women to use sanitary napkins in their area due to which sales and usage of sanitary napkins increased.
Keeping in view her extraordinary contribution, chief minister Yogi Adityanath felicitated Poonam during Swachh Shakti Saptah celebrations in March 2018.