Meena, the 20-something head of the village vigilante committee, says the women had to overcome initial resistance. Complaints against misbehaviour were lodged with the district administration and fear of public censure proved to be an effective deterrent. “We also followed ostracisation. For example, nobody would visit or eat at the house of a person who refused to construct a toilet. Women of the village have now come up with a new slogan that they will not get their daughters married off into homes that do not have a toilet,” Meena says.

Today there is not a stench in this village, nor are there any clogged drains. More and more people have enrolled for the vigilance committee, which works in two shifts—in the morning from 4 to 6 and in the evening from 7 to 9.

Urvashi Gulati, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Panchayats, says, “The success of Munda Khera has actually led to a domino effect. Soon after this, a lot of nearby villages also started their campaigns for total sanitation to achieve ODF status. In Munda Khera we are currently thinking of integrating some NREGA projects like solid waste management and biogas under the Total Sanitation Campaign.”