Changing Behavior towards

Sanitat ion Learnings from Amarambedu

S.N.Srikanth President

Rotary Club of Madras RI Dist 3230, India

Chartered in 1929

3rd oldest Rotary Club in India

~ 250 members

Has produced 17 District Governors and 1 RI Director

Proud history of service to the community

Pioneer in PolioPlus

Rotary Club of Madras

India: Economic Superpower?

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US$ trillion

China US India Japan Brazil Russia

GDP

2050

India: Superpower in Open Defecation >50% of all Indians defecate in the open

< 10% in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Peru

A Sanitation Crisis Open Sewage Contaminated Water

The Sad Result

• Diarrhoea, typhoid, cholera

• High infant mortality

• Children’s growth stunted

• Assaults on women after dark

Toilet subsidies have had little impact US$ 2.5 bn doled out since 2001

M erely building toilets is not the solut ion

Behavioural change is essent ial

ROTARY CLUB OF MADRAS

Location:

Amarambedu Village,

60 km from Chennai

Pilot project to end open defecation

109 households, of which

just 1 had a toilet when project commenced

Technique used: A Variant of Community Led Total Sanitation

• Focus on Open Defecation Free (ODF) Communities as outcome, not individual toilets

• Change behaviour by leveraging triggers such as shame and disgust at open defecation(“triggering”)

• Promote community led effort, not handouts

From walk of shame to walk of dignity

Planning phase (~ 7 days)

• Line up masons

• Get supply chain in place

• Identify triggers

Triggering phase (~ 7 days)

• Trigger community

• Set up sanitation committee

• Decide on toilet technology

• Set up revolving fund

• Panchayat passes resolution on total sanitation

Construction phase (~ 4 months)

• Community led toilet construction

Sustainability phase (~ 5 months)

• Achieve 100% toilet coverage

• Facilitate government subsidy

• Panchayat formulates ODF By Laws

• Set up monitoring Committees

What’s that stink?

Pre triggering: village heads

Pre Triggering

Villagers come forward to dig pits for toilets immediately after triggering

Leach pits under construction

Toilet Enclosure

Completed toilet

Walk of Dignity

Pledge to keep village open defecation free

Learnings from Amarambedu Approach behaviour change as a social marketing exercise

The 5 “P”s of Social Marketing

• Product

• Price

• Place

• Promotion

• Policy

Social Marketing: the use of marketing techniques to influence target audience behaviours that will benefit society as well as the individual

Learnings from Amarambedu Employ professionals in behaviour modification

Learnings from Amarambedu Toilet subsidies often do more harm than good

Live with them in the short run, but lobby to eliminate them except where they are genuinely required

Learnings from Amarambedu Time saved and convenience, not improved health the

strongest motivator for toilet usage

Position your product accordingly

Learnings from Amarambedu Red tape is stifling, but Rotary can be an

effective interface in dealing with government bureaucracy

Recognitions & Scaling Up

• Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad is doing a case study on Amarambedu

• Rotary Dist 3230 has made Sanitation a Focus Project for 2015-16

• Discussions are on with the Government to incorporate behaviour modification in “Swachh Bharat”

Thank you