MP: Shajapur gets ‘swachh’ crusader in school teacher

Upset over the molestation of a friend’s sister, a school teacher in Shajapur district has dedicated himself to the Swachh Bharat Mission, helping build 1,824 toilets in villages across the district.

Upset over the molestation of a friend’s sister, a school teacher in Shajapur district has dedicated himself to the Swachh Bharat Mission, helping build 1,824 toilets in villages across the district.

A school teacher in Shajapur district has dedicated himself to the Swachh Bharat Mission, helping build 1,824 toilets in villages across the district.

Rajkumar Parmar, 30, a primary school teacher at Shujalpur tehsil of Shajapur, said he started out on his mission around eight months ago when one of his friend’s sister complained of being molested after she went to attend nature’s call in the open.

“The incident gave a new meaning to my life. For the first three months, I started working alone in nearby villages. Then, I joined the Swachh Bharat Mission,” he said.

Selected as motivator for Swach Bharat Mission in the area a couple of months ago, Parmar said he constructed more than 1,800 toilets at Hannukheri, Raipur, Piplod, Laharkheda, Dugdha, Kadwala, Mandalkha, Netera and other villages of the district and is also encouraging villagers to use them to avoid similar incidents in the future.

PM Narendra Modi had launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ on October 2, 2014, and set a five-year deadline to bring cleanliness in the country.

The father of two kids, however, revealed that his family doesn’t support him in his endeavour.

“They want me to take up a government job and earn money for living, but I want to dedicate myself for the betterment of the society.”

Parmar also said that the Rs 12,000 grant from the government is inadequate.

“It is very difficult to construct a toilet with such a low amount. So we asked villagers to volunteer to cut down labour costs. Whatever amount we get in addition to this, we use it for the construction of toilets,” he said.

He further said that many women are molested and teased when they go out for defecation in the open and most of these cases are not reported to the police. Praising Parmar’s work and dedication, Shajapur district collector Rajeev Sharma said he is an excellent motivator in Shujalpur tehsil.

Sharma said that about a year back, the administration had picked 200 motivators from across the district and trained them at a workshop conducted by Unicef (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) at the district headquarters.

“When it comes to Shujalpur tehsil, not only Parmar, but the whole team, led by panchayat CEO Amit Vyas, is doing great work. Most of the panchayats have sufficient number of toilets to cater to the requirement of the people there and work is going on at 10-12 more panchayats,” he said, hoping that by July 31, Shujalpur tehsil would be declared open defecation-free.