India: 102-year-old woman sells her goats to build a toilet

A 102-year-old woman in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh has heeded a call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for maintaining cleanliness by selling her goats. The woman, identified as Kuwarbai Yadav raised Rs 22,000 (£220, $335) and used the money to build a toilet in Kotabharri village.

Yadav's act has given impetus to Modi's Clean India campaign and as a result of the centenarian's act, all of the 450 residents of the village have now pledged to construct toilets in their own homes.

The district administration has also joined in the efforts and is planning to construct toilets in the village. The Clean India campaign was started by Modi on 2 October 2014, where the prime minister had asked the masses to construct toilets in every village.

A 2013, a World Bank study had found that 600 million Indians (around 53% of the population) defecated in the open, having no access to toilets. Poor sanitation and contaminated water was the cause of 80% of the diseases afflicting rural India, according to Unicef. The Indian government had then pledged to ensure that toilets were constructed in at least 60 million more homes by 2019.

Meanwhile, speaking about what inspired Yadav to sell the goats and raise money for constructing a toilet, the centenarian told The Times of India: "I attended a 'chaupal' [open forum] where I came to know about diseases that could spread from open defecation. I thought of doing something on my own. I sold off my goats and told everyone about my plan to construct a toilet."

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