Will power is nothing but the willingness to do, just like Dr Mapuskar had. He was an ordinary government doctor appointed in Dehu primary health centre in 1960, but the achievements of his life have been greatly extraordinary. While he was posted at the government hospital,he noticed that it was due to the unhygienic conditions, most patients faced ailments. Hence, he started his journey to become the “Swachhta Doot”.
Before his life as a government doctor, he had worked actively on native technology and community-based solutions to lead the country towards a clean revolution. After his college, he approached the Directorate of Health Services for a job. The only one vacancy was in Dehu village. He took the job at once. He was told by the villagers that the hospital was haunted, so he slept in the hospital verandah. The next morning he realised that the hospital had no toilets. Hence, he had to go into the forest to relieve himself, where he found a lot of villagers who he had met the previous evening. This incident embarrassed him so much that he decided never to defecate in open again.
He vowed to start a revolution and get rid of the cause of all illnesses, directing his efforts to improve the sanitation, which started with a pit latrine model, thereby making him a true sanitation pioneer. The next day, he came up with a makeshift toilet for himself that was made with cartons of medicines He further got the other villagers involved to have the toilets built on the “sopa sandas” (simple toilet model, which was invented by Appasaheb Patwardhan.
Miraculously, by 1980, 90% of the village had toilet coverage and by 2004, there were 800 two pit washrooms. Eventually, the entire village had built their washrooms. He selflessly dedicated his life to make the village open defecation free in the 1960s
But, his mission was not only limited to the toilets. He also worked for cleaner villages and for his services in this field, he has been honoured with the Padma Shri posthumously. He was joined by his daughter, Dr. Shilpa Narayan, in his pursuit. His daughter has still been continuing his legacy and works in the public health sector.
Dr. Mapuskar is an unsung hero who worked tirelessly to make his village the best in hygiene and sanitation. He brought about this massive change through his awareness campaigns and experimentation with technology. He chose a voluntary retirement after 18 long years of committed service, but continued to stay back in Dehu to work with the local residents.
He was also honoured with Nirmal Gram Puruskar Award from Former President Late APJ Abdul Kalam in 2006. Team SwachhAbility bows in front of his compassionate aim towards making his village hygienic, cleaner and considerably better.
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