Behavior Change Interventions

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U), launched in 2014 by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has become the largest urban sanitation behaviour change program in the world. Through the personal leadership and involvement of respected Prime Minister himself, SBM has been able to put the sanitation discourse onto the centrestage and transform a government mandate into a ‘Jan Andolan’, a people’s movement. Through a judicious use of traditional, mdigital and social media and intensive interpersonal communication, SBM-U has been able to activate stakeholders across the socio-economic spectrum ranging from community volunteers, school students, celebrities, elected representatives, media and the industry. Alongside, a total of INR. 1828 crores (representing 15% of funds for toilets and solid waste management) is earmarked for IEC and behavior change, which is unprecedented in any government program thus far. However, the major trigger for behaviour change has been the ownership that citizens have taken when it comes to leading and sustaining change on the ground. The key IEC strategy for SBM-U may be summarized as “Making sanitation everyone’s business” through constant communication with “every person, all the time”.

The success of SBM-U would be incomplete without mentioning the enthusiastic efforts of children, who have been the biggest change agents and hooks for communication in India’s journey towards safe sanitation. SBM-U, in all its communication endeavours, has consistently attempted to involve children in the cause of Swachhata and empower them to become Swachhata Warriors for now and the future.

Some of the key initiatives aimed at children are as follows:

• MoHUA, in association with Ministry of Human Resource Development, and central educational boards launched a nation-wide student engagement campaign on 26th January 2016. The campaign involved mass pledges by every educational institution in the country, between 26th - 31st January 2016.
• National level campaign titled ‘Asli Tarakki’ (Real Progress) which used children to spread the message of safe sanitation among masses by linking toilet usage to one’s prestige in society.
• Partnerships with comic book publishers such as Diamond Comics (creator of the legendary Chacha Choudhary and Sabu) and Amar Chitra Katha to develop and disseminate SBM-U themed comics to inculcate behavior change among children.

The impact of the massive IEC and behavior change initiatives can be gauged by the overwhelming participation of people when it comes to ensuring the cleanliness of their cities. Till date, over 20 crore citizens have been engaged in the Mission, which is testimony to the ‘Jan Andolan’ that has been created.

• The results are here for the world to see- urban India, with its population of 40 crores, has shunned open defecation. More importantly, the rate of recertification for open defecation free status (conducted every six months) is over 95% which points to the massive behavioural change effected and sustained. This has been made possible through the twin strategy of building adequate sanitation infrastructure and getting people to make use of them and empowering them to take ownership of the same.
• The multi-dimensional communication strategy has led to SBM-U becoming an easily identifiable brand with a strong recall value. SBM-U also enjoyed ample organic media coverage which became a source of additional leverage. The SBM logo on Indian currency notes, railway stations, etc and SBM related news coverage are case in point. The multi-pronged communication approach has also succeeded in mainstreaming the discourse on sanitation in a country where this topic has often been ignored or spoken in hushed tones. Today, SBM-U has become a topic of discussion in streets and global platforms alike having taken the shape of the world’s largest urban behaviour change campaign and accelerating India’s progress in ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all (SDG 6).