Kudos for Tripura Panchayats
The success of East Mirza comes as a sequel of efforts of the block authority as well as the continuous campaigns. 

Subhasis K.Chanda

The village environs in Tripura, which is situated at the vortex of lush green and deep forests seem to be god-gifted. People from outside the States love to come there to heave a sigh of relief, to have their body, mind and soul toned by fresh air. But, ironically, the locals health condition is not well. Particularly in hilly and rural areas people suffer from myriad of health related problems, such as malaria, diarrhea etc - outbreak of these diseases has become almost an annual feature in this North Eastern State. Uncleanness of the societal environment, consumption of contaminated water and evacuating faeces in open places cause all these awful incidences, which is also a traditional phenomenon of rural areas of our country. Thanks to the Union Ministry of Rural Development, Rajiv Gandhi Water Mission has taken up initiatives to cope up with these menaces and bring panacea with common peopleˇ¦s participation in total sanitation programme (TSP).

Tripura like many other small and big states has also been leaping forward in achieving gradual success in the programme, which has virtually translated into a mass movement at a considerable part of the state. Hitherto East Mirza gram panchayat, which had been capped with a golden feather of Nirmal Gram Puraskar in its launching year 2005 has been the glaring example in the State in mass mobilization and creation of sustainable clean and hygienic environment. East Mirza GP has steered 36 more GPs to achieve 100 per cent coverage of total sanitation. These 36 GPs spreading over Matabari, Kakraban, Rajnagar, Rupaichhari, Amarpur, Jirania and Mohanpur blocks have been declared this year as Nirmal Gram. The representatives of these Gram Panchayats (GPs) will be given away Nirmal Gram Puraskar  by  the  President of India at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

Behind the success of East Mirza Nirmal Gram in Kakraban block under South Tripura district one of the most instrumental was a dhuti clad old man who had played a catalytic role in motivating people. A real watchdog, that 73 year old man used to climb an old mango tree; carrying a bamboo stick he remained seated atop the tree every morning to guard the open field so that no one could any more tried to evacuate faeces in open place. A lady panchayat officer, who had considered it a routine work to visit every house and help women members of families making bamboo fencing around the toilets, was also instrumental in mobilising the womenfolk of East Mirza. The success of East Mirza came as a sequel of a concerted efforts and supervision of the block authority as well as the continuous campaign through all sorts of folk media by social and voluntary organization including the Self Help Groups (SHG). That led each and every household of the panchayat set up own toilet. The progress was reviewed everyday so as to take up next step. The activists engaged in the campaign programme took help of self-composed songs, poems, folk songs, street-theatre, displaying TV-shows, wall writings, hoarding and distribution of calendars and leaflets on the theme of sanitation both in Bengali and Kokborok dialect. The roadside trees and poles have been used to display these thematic hoarding and placard. In every campaign the trained government employees and peoples representatives interpreted the need and significance of the total sanitation programme.

 Since January 2003 the block authority has taken up the work of construction of SULABH Toilets for the BPL families. The Panchayat itself along with some SHGs built the squatting plates for such toilets. The BPL families had to contribute Rs. 125 per family and in some cases free of cost subject to they had to toil for construction of toilets. The APL families, on the other, have constructed the sanitation facilities on their own. The total population    of this Gaon Panchayat comprises 630 families

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