PM 'touched' with 104-year-old woman's Swacch mission gesture

Prime Minister Narendra Modi touches the feet of woman who sold her cattle to build a toilet in her house

A 104-year-old resident of Dhamtari district, Kuwarbai Yadav, has become the poster child for the Swachh Bharat Mission. The resident of Kotabharri village, about 100 km from Raipur, sold the eight goats she owned to construct a toilet in her house.

“An elderly woman of 104 years who stays in a remote village, does not watch TV or read papers, but the message of building toilets under clean India mission somehow reached her,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “She also encouraged others from the village to build.” The prime minister touched Yadav’s feet.

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“I would request the media to not cover my speech but air the inspiring initiative of Kuwarbai across the country. I had an opportunity today to seek the blessings of Kuwarbai.”

The initiative of an old-aged lady underlines that people's mindset is changing fast, Modi said. Yadav learnt about the Swachh Bharat mission during a government programme in the village about a year ago. She was inspired and decided to sell her eight goats to raise Rs 22,000. Yadav used the entire amount to construct a toilet at her house, where she stays with her son and daughter-in-law.

If that was not enough, Yadav also convinced 30 families in her village to construct toilets and end open defecation. In June 2015, the village was declared free of open defecation.