Neer Nirmal Pariyojana is being implemented with the objective to ‘improve piped water supply and sanitation services for selected rural communities in the target states through decentralized service delivery systems’. To achieve this goal the project has a multi-pronged approach including technical and social process in planning, implementing, operating and maintaining the project with substantial focus on community participation, transparency and ownership building among the primary stakeholders. Technical expertise for the project is chiefly provided by the PHED, while the social and institution development skills are being addressed by an innovative approach – the Community Mobilizer Model.
Community Mobilizers are community best practitioners of social mobilization and motivators for collective behavior change. Community Mobilizers are being envisaged as the key instrument for mobilizing the community to avail improved piped water supply and sanitation services under NNP. To achieve the goals of the project, Community Mobilizers are engaged to expedite the process of social mobilization in order to stimulate demand for the intervention, mobilize communities around the project and trigger collective behavior change across communities in the project districts. Community Mobilizers are the bridge between the department, GPWSC and community as a whole. They are at the forefront in generating awareness among the masses regarding services of water supply and sanitation under NNP.
A systematic process of identification and selection is conducted for the engagement of Community Mobilizers. Through an innovative and participatory selection process the candidates are assessed in terms of leadership, communication skills, motivation, team work, public speaking and attitude. The selected Community Mobilizers then undergo an intensive residential induction process followed by a structured filed-assignment. The induction programme and field assignment are aligned towards equipping and building the capacities of the Community Mobilizers as local resource persons in implementing the project.
Each project GP has 2 (two) Community Mobilizers – 1 (one) male and 1 (one) female – selected through a participatory selection process. Hence, with 63 GPs in Batch-I, the total number of Community Mobilizers selected and deployed are 126. Coming from the same background and facing similar issues, it is envisaged that they will be able to create greater impact by sharing their experiences as frontline workers as well as beneficiaries under the project.
