C’garh’s ‘Swachhta Doot' dies at 106

Chhattisgarh's face of Open Defecation-Free (ODF) campaign Kunwar Bai, who shot to fame after she sold her goats which were her only source of revenue, to build a toilet in her home in a poverty-hit village house, died on Friday here at a government hospital at the age of 106. 

Kunwar Bai, resident of Kotabharri village (Barari Gram Panchayat) of Dhamtari district, was illiterate but known as the flag-bearer in Chhattisgarh for sanitation drive and had inspired entire 18 poor families of her village to construct toilets at their houses.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had touched her feet at a public function in February 2016 at Dongargarh in the state and then remarked about her in his speech, "Today I have got the opportunity to take the blessings from 104-year-old Ma Kunwar Bai. People who consider themselves as young should decide for themselves whether their thoughts and vision are also young".

Modi further said in the same breath about her at the function, "104-year-old Ma Kunwar Bai neither watches television, nor she is educated, but she came to know that Prime Minister of the country is calling upon the people to build toilets at home. She used her little income she earned by selling goats to build toilet in her house and also inspired other villagers to do the same. This vision of a a senior citizen such as Kunwar Bai reflects the ongoing revolutionary changes in the country. I salute her."

Kunwar Bai was taken to a government district hospital in Dhamtari recently and then she was rushed to the state's biggest government hospital in Raipur after Chief Minister Raman Singh who was in the national capital at that time talked to her daughter Susheela through a video conferencing. 

Singh had personally monitored Kunwar Bai's health condition during her entire treatment period and in an official statement he expressed profound grief on the “sad demise of famous 'Swachhta Doot' of Chhattisgarh”.