Whistle-blower kids deter open defecation in Indore villages

'Whistle-blower' kids have brought an end to the practise of open defecation at many villages in Indore district, Collector P Narhari claimed today.
Some 10,000 children in the district, aged between 5 to 12, have become part of 'Vanar-Sena' (army of monkeys, a name derived from Ramayana) which seeks to discourage open defecation.
These children contributed immensely to government's efforts, Narhari said, speaking to reporters at Depalpur after inspecting four villages in the tehsil.
A group of 20 to 30 children has been formed in every village and they keep a vigil at the open places, customarily used for defecation, and blow whistles to shame anyone who is heading to such spots to answer the call of nature.

Some children who are especially naughty are even known to snatch away water tumblers from people's hands, forcing them to go back, the collector said.
Latrines have been built at almost all the houses in 610 villages under 312 village panchayats, he claimed, and expressed hope that Indore district will be announced as open defecation-free very soon.
The district authorities are running a campaign against open defecation since September 1, 2015. Some 25,000 latrines have been built in villages in the last four months with government's financial aid and another 15,000 have been built using other resources, the collector said.