Mondrita Chatterjee

Understanding the problems facing our community requires minimal effort, but taking important steps to address them requires much more. With help from her father, Mondrita Chatterjee, then a Class IV student, built the first toilet of its sort for the 350 residents of Kendradih village. The idea for this came to her in the year 2014, when she was in class 4, and she saw news coverage about girls dropping out of school because there were no hygiene facilities. For Mondrita, this was unusual since she couldn't fathom how somebody could live a life without school and education. It sparked in her a genuine desire to help these girls - which she eventually managed to do. She is a Class XII student who has constructed 10 toilets so far, some of which were made out of waste materials like plastic bottles and fly ash. She has garnered praise from the government and charitable organisations and has in turn motivated many other children to do their part as well. Understanding the problems facing our community requires minimal effort, but taking important steps to address them requires much more. With help from her father, Mondrita Chatterjee, then a Class IV student, built the first toilet of its sort for the 350 residents of Kendradih village. The idea for this came to her in the year 2014, when she was in class 4, and she saw news coverage about girls dropping out of school because there were no hygiene facilities. For Mondrita, this was unusual since she couldn't fathom how somebody could live a life without school and education. It sparked in her a genuine desire to help these girls - which she eventually managed to do. She is a Class XII student who has constructed 10 toilets so far, some of which were made out of waste materials like plastic bottles and fly ash. She has garnered praise from the government and charitable organisations and has in turn motivated many other children to do their part as well. In addition to building toilets for the poor, Mondrita strives to instil the value of leading a hygienic and healthy life in those whose lives she can impact in any way. She is also interested in the mission of the overall development of rural communities that lack basic amenities like housing, schooling, etc. She aspired to be an IAS officer, and with all the help she has been receiving from everyone, she hopes to collaborate with people and start a broader hygiene movement.