“Swachh Bharat Campaign - A project of Nirmalvari, Pandarpur, Maharashtra”

During the 12^th century, so many sects and schools of thought came into existence and dis-appeared in the course of time but the VARKARI sect is the only sect which has been growing leaps and bounds.

The main reason for its continuous growth is that the leaders exclusively of this sect brave/ been exclusively saints and wakris who mostly travel on foot.

Principal founder of this Sect was Sant Gyaneshwar Ji and Sant  Tukaram Ji was holding the top position. The other Saints like Gyan Dev, Nam Dev, Chokhoba Goroba, Muktai Janayi, Bahinabai and others added a new dimension to life through their writings. Cultural and spiritual traditions of the Varkari sect are making great strides in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab and Southern States of Andhra and Karnataka.

Every year, people belonging to this sect take out Sant Gyaneshwar and Tukaram Mahadev Palki Yatra from Alandipur village (Pune) on different routes upto Pandarpur covering about 250 kilometers in 20-21 days. About 5 to 7 Lakh people take part in this Yatra which is unique in itself. For the Yatris as also the villagers from the surrounding villages who halt enroute at 32 places, make-shift arrangements have to be made for their food, stay and bath. Keeping in view that the halt at a particular place is just for a day or two, permanent arrangement is out of question. A critical problem is the provision of toilets for yatris. For the convenience of the Yatris, representatives of many Corporate houses, organizations and individuals came forward to make arrangement for prasad, 6000, drinking water, cleanliness, medical facilities and waste management, but the problem of toilets remains un-addressed due to which certain places enroute start stinking creating health and water pollution problems. Keeping in view the seriousness of this problem, Sewa Sahyog Foundation, Pune, launched Nirmal Wari Campaign in with  a view to strengthen ‘Swachh Bharat Campaign of our dear Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji with the co-operation of same enlightened people, 250 mobile toilets in Loni and Yawat villages were provided on Sant Tuka Ram Palki Yatra routes. Other details about the Palki Yatris like the date of arrival of the Palki in the villages, where the yatris stay and when do they normally use the toilets were given to the Panchayat and Government officials. Based on this data, male and female volunteers request the yatris with folded hands to make use of these toilets.

Due to this facility, nearly 68000 litres of urine and human excreta are put in a tanker. Earlier, the yatris were defecating and urinating in the open due to which these villages used to stink heavily for the next fortnight after the yatra. After the provision of toilets, there was no stink or foul smell even after one day of the Yatra and people could happily enjoy their breakfast and tea and the villagers were extremely happy all the scenario. After getting highly impressed this project, Sholapur Collector, requested us for making toilets at the last halt at Pandarpur also. Many Voluntary Organisations and public spirited people came forward and with their help and cooperation, we made 1000 toilets at Pandarpur, on a plot of 65 acres on the banks of a river. After this successful experiment, the Maharashtra Government decided that from next year, toilets will be provided on both the Yatra routes as a part of “Swachh Bharat campaign”.

Successful implementation of the Sewa Sahyog project, with the active support of Maharashtra Government, many organizations and hundreds of Yatra pilgrims came forward and make toilets for this year’s Palki Yatra at each and every halt. Both male and female Volunteers and college students also helped in this project. This was certainly not an easy job because the actual work begins after the arrival of the Palki Yatris at the halts. Despite bitter cold and rain, even at night, volunteers blow whistles and urge the yatris politely to make use of ‘Maoli Toilets’.

The female yatris were particularly impressed by this facility provided by Sewa Sahyog Foundation as they could utilise use the toilets even at night without any fear or inhibition.

The female yatris were, of course, hesitant in the beginning but ultimately they started using these toilets after their queries in this regard were resolved by the volunteers. It was resolved in a meeting of RSS Western Mahasrashtra Prant that for the successful implementation of “Nirmal Wari Campaign” BJP, Samata Manch, Palit Pawan Sanghathan, RSS Mahavidyalaya Sanghathan, Gen next Yuva Morcha and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh should extend their active support under the overall leadership of Sewa Sahyog Foundation.

All the facilities provided during Palki Yatra like arrangement for Water, Power and makeshift Toilets for catering to the needs of a huge crowd of Palki yatris, sometimes prove inadequate. Despite this Varkari yatris, villagers and administrative and safai karamcharis feel grateful. Because it is probably for the first time that such a large scale problem of providing toilets and other facilities for the Palki yatris  has been tackled, so successfully which has became possible with this active support and cooperation of all the government bodies and people from all walks of life fact and age groups. This is a clear indication of the part that ‘Swachh Bharat Campaign’ is gradually progressing towards its goal and bringing a quantum change in the habits of the Indian people with regard to cleanliness.