She had sold off eight to ten of her goats, her only assets, to raise Rs 22,000 to build toilets at her house, in her village of Kotabharri, in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh. She was inspired by the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
Kunwar Bai, who was then felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for her efforts to make her village open defecation free. She was chosen as the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan mascot in 2016.
Earlier, during a rally in Rajnandgaon, the Prime Minister had touched her feet and addressed her as "Ma Kunwar Bai Yadav".
Kunwar Bai worked tirelessly to spread awareness about using toilets amongst her fellow villagers. As a result of her efforts, the district of Dhamtari became the first to be declared open defecation free in 2016.