Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): It was the day of Gandhi Jayanti in 2014. After completing their household chores, Kiran Sharma, along with her friend Anita Sharma, started knocking the doors of the residents of their colony Kalpana Nagar in the city.
They wanted to request them to separate liquid and solid waste, not litter public places and avoid using disposable plastic plates, bowls, glasses etc.
“Most people took us for sales women and closed their doors on us. Others listened, but with little interest. And very few took our requests seriously,” recalls Kiran, adding that “people signed oaths not to dump garbage on the streets but continued to do it. We had to install CCTV| cameras to catch them.”
However, the two women refused to give up and the name they gave to their group reflected their thinking. It was called ‘Sakaratmak Soch’, which will turn 11 in October this year and found mention in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat on July 27.
“Aamir Khan’s show Satyamev Jayate and PM’s Swacchta Abhiyan had inspired us to launch our campaign,” Kiran says, adding that PM Modi had also praised the organisation in a tweet in 2018.
The organisation now has around 200 members, who contribute Rs 100 a month to meet the expenses. More than 700 women take part in its activities. Besides spreading awareness, they also perform ‘Shramdan’ to clean parks and other public places in Kalpana Nagar and Sonagiri localities on Sundays.
Kiran says that they had to face challenges in their homes, too. “My parents-in-law were doctors and they used to tell me that cleaning garbage is not my job,” she says, adding that her civil engineering consultant husband was also not very comfortable with the idea. However, as their fame spread and newspapers began publishing stories on their group, the objections disappeared.
Sakaratmak Soch is not limited to garbage management and cleanliness at public places. It runs ‘Bartan Banks’ in 25 municipal wards in the city from where steel utensils are made available for functions to replace plastic disposables.
There are two ‘Thaila Banks’ where old clothes are turned into cloth bags to curb the use of polythene carry bags. They also run a medical equipment bank where hospital beds, wheelchairs, walkers, nebulizers etc. are available for temporary use.
In 2020, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation named the organisation as its brand ambassador and Swachhta Sathi.
“We have plans to set up ‘Bartan Banks’ in all the municipal wards in the state capital,” says Kiran.
