Kunwar Bai Yadav
Died (aged 106)
Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India
NationalityIndian
OccupationActivist
Known forToilets

Kunwar Bai Yadav (died 23 February 2018, aged 106)[1] was a woman who lived in a village in Dhamtari district in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. In her old age, inspired by the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign), she sold seven of her goats to raise the money to build a toilet at her house. In 2016, the district was declared the first in the state to be free of open defecation, and she was declared a mascot of the campaign and visited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Life

Yadav lived in Kotabharri, a village in Dhamtari district, Chhattisgarh. The villagers had always defecated in the open, in the forest. In 2015, she heard about toilets for the first time in a presentation at the local school as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a campaign to end open defecation by 2 October 2019, the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. She sold seven of her two dozen goats, her only available assets, and with the help of a daughter-in-law who works as a day labourer, raised the ₹22,000 to build a toilet at the house she shared with her family. Others in the village followed suit, and, in late 2016, the district became officially free of open defecation, the first district in the State to achieve this.[2][3]

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kotabharri and bowed and touched Yadav's feet.[2][4][5] She has been declared a mascot of the Clean India Campaign.[2][6][7]

Yadav was admitted to Ambedkar Hospital in Raipur after becoming ill. She died there on 23 February 2018, aged 106.[1][8]

References

  1. ^ a b "Kunwar Bai, the 106-year-old icon for Swachh Bharat campaign, dies". The Economic Times. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Geeta Pandey (2016-11-01). "How a 105-year-old ended open defecation in her village". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  3. ^ Meghan Werft (2016-11-01). "Indian Woman, 105, Sold 7 Goats to Build a Toilet, Sparks Massive Change". Global Citizen. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  4. ^ "PM Modi lauds 104-year-old woman who sold her goats to build toilet". Daily News and Analysis. 2016-02-21. Retrieved 2016-12-11. According to this newspaper, she built two toilets.
  5. ^ "PM Modi lauds 104-yr-old woman who sold her goats to build toilet, touches her feet". Indian Express. Press Trust of India. 2016-02-21. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  6. ^ "105-year-old Kunwar Bai made 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' mascot". Daily News and Analysis. 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  7. ^ Shreya Biswas (2016-09-14). "105-yr-old made Swachh Bharat Abhiyan mascot after she sells off her goats to built [sic] toilet". India Today. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  8. ^ "Swachh Mascot 106-year-old Kunwar Bai Who Sold Her Goats to Build Toilet Dies". news18.com. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
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