A meeting of Jhansi ‘Citizen Forum’ was held on 29 November 2018. A ‘Citizen Forum’ at the city level, formed under the ongoing Engaged Citizens, Responsive City project, includes citizens from across the city in actively working together to demand improvement in sanitation services from the municipality.
The meeting aimed to sensitise citizens from various domains of life about better management of solid & liquid waste and motivate them to actively contribute towards achieving ‘inclusive sanitation’ in the city. A road map on inclusive sanitation was presented during the meeting, which highlighted the need of inclusive sanitation and a road map with seven milestones to achieve this. The event was attended by representatives of chamber of commerce, Vyapar Mandal, Medical Associations, Lion’s Club, National Health Mission, school principals, academicians, Settlement Improvement Committee forum members etc. Key points discussed at the meeting included encouraging shopkeepers to make proper arrangements for waste storage, arrangements of waste management inside the campuses, covering open drains, improving public toilets etc. It was also opined that the forum should be joined by active citizens who take responsibility and work with accountability. A toolkit for citizen action & monitoring to achieve inclusive sanitation was also introduced and circulated among the participants.