The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Ecosan toilet beauty contest conducted

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 15, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Ecosan toilet beauty contest conducted

K. Subramanian

NAGAPATTINAM: Nearly hundred ecosan toilet owners in the tsunami-hit Kameshwaram village in Nagapattinam district on Saturday took part actively in the first unique toilet beauty contest organised by the Society for Community Organisation and Peoples Education (SCOPE), Friends-in-Need (FIN), a French non-governmental organisation and the Nagapattinam District Rural Development Agency (DRDA).

Promoter of FIN and economics professor in France, Shayama V. Ramani outlined the background of the unique contest and said that toilets should not be considered as something which had to be tolerated but the most essential one for a healthy, happy and hygienic life.

She said that the tsunami-hit residents of the village had boldly accepted this revolutionary toilet model and Kameshwaram had emerged as the village with maximum number of ecosan toilets in the Indian coast. The beauty contest was organised to highlight the importance of the model.

The Director of SCOPE, M. Subburaman, explained the salient features of ecosan toilet that it was the most ideal model for tsunami-affected coastal sandy and high water table areas as well as desert and rocky regions.

Mr. Subburaman congratulated the residents of the Kameshwaram village for their pioneering effort. He also released a CD on ‘Santhi Century Not Out’ produced by Centre for Education and Documentation, Bangalore.

All the participants who had constructed the ecosan toilets in the first phase were given prizes and stainless steel pots. The President of Kameshwaram Panchayat, C. G. Kanagasundaram, said that the village had 250 ecosan toilets and FIN had assured Rs. 3 lakh for construction of more toilets. He thanked the UNICEF and DRDA for providing financial support for the programme.

Three residents, Mrs. Saroja Paulraj, R. Nagappan and Vedavalli, won the first prize of Rs.5,000 each.

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