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Kuwarbai Yadav convinced 30 families in her village to construct toilets and end open defecation.
A 104-year-old resident of Dhamtari district, Kuwarbai Yadav, has become the poster child for the Swachh Bharat Mission.
The resident of Kotabharri village, about 100 km from Raipur, Chhattisgarh, sold the eight goats she owned to construct a toilet in her house.
'An elderly woman of 104 years who stays in a remote village, does not watch TV or read papers, but the message of building toilets under clean India mission somehow reached her,' said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The prime minister touched Yadav's feet.
'I would request the media to not cover my speech, but air the inspiring initiative of Kuwarbai across the country. I had an opportunity today to seek the blessings of Kuwarbai,' Modi added.
Yadav learnt about the Swachh Bharat Mission during a government programme in her village about a year ago. She was inspired and decided to sell her eight goats to raise Rs 22,000.
She used the entire amount to construct a toilet at her home, where she stays with her son and daughter-in-law.
She then convinced 30 families in her village to construct toilets and end open defecation.
In June 2015, the village was declared free of open defecation.
IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi felicitates 104-year-old Kunwar Bai for building toilets in her village in Chhattisgarh's Dhamtari district, February 21, 2016. Photogaph: PTI
