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Explaining the outcomes of the 'Clean India' campaign: institutional behaviour and sanitation transformation in India

Explaining the outcomes of the 'Clean India' campaign: institutional behaviour and sanitation... IntroductionMany less developed countries are struggling to provide universal access to safe sanitation, but in the past 5 years India has almost reached its target of eliminating open defaecation.ObjectiveTo understand how the Indian government effected this sanitation transformation.MethodsThe study employed interviews with 17 actors in the government’s ‘Clean India’ programme across the national capital and four states, which were analysed using a theory of change grounded in Behaviour Centred Design.ResultsThe Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) claims to have improved the coverage of toilets in rural India from 39% to over 95% of households between 2014 and mid-2019. From interviews with relevant actors we constructed a theory of change for the programme, in which high-level political support and disruptive leadership changed environments in districts, which led to psychological changes in district officials. This, in turn, led to changed behaviour for sanitation programming. The prime minister set an ambitious goal of eliminating open defaecation by the 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi (October 2019). This galvanised government bureaucracy, while early success in 100 flagship districts reduced the scepticism of government employees, a cadre of 500 young professionals placed in districts imparted new ideas and energy, social and mass media were used to inform and motivate the public, and new norms of ethical behaviour were demonstrated by leaders. As a result, district officials became emotionally involved in the programme and felt pride at their achievement in ridding villages of open defaecation.ConclusionsThough many challenges remain, governments seeking to achieve the sustainable development goal of universal access to safe sanitation can emulate the success of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Integrated Healthcare Journal British Medical Journal

Explaining the outcomes of the 'Clean India' campaign: institutional behaviour and sanitation transformation in India

Curtis, Val
Integrated Healthcare Journal , Volume 4 (5) – Sep 30, 2019
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References (136)

Publisher
British Medical Journal
Copyright
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
eISSN
2399-5351
DOI
10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001892
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

IntroductionMany less developed countries are struggling to provide universal access to safe sanitation, but in the past 5 years India has almost reached its target of eliminating open defaecation.ObjectiveTo understand how the Indian government effected this sanitation transformation.MethodsThe study employed interviews with 17 actors in the government’s ‘Clean India’ programme across the national capital and four states, which were analysed using a theory of change grounded in Behaviour Centred Design.ResultsThe Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) claims to have improved the coverage of toilets in rural India from 39% to over 95% of households between 2014 and mid-2019. From interviews with relevant actors we constructed a theory of change for the programme, in which high-level political support and disruptive leadership changed environments in districts, which led to psychological changes in district officials. This, in turn, led to changed behaviour for sanitation programming. The prime minister set an ambitious goal of eliminating open defaecation by the 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi (October 2019). This galvanised government bureaucracy, while early success in 100 flagship districts reduced the scepticism of government employees, a cadre of 500 young professionals placed in districts imparted new ideas and energy, social and mass media were used to inform and motivate the public, and new norms of ethical behaviour were demonstrated by leaders. As a result, district officials became emotionally involved in the programme and felt pride at their achievement in ridding villages of open defaecation.ConclusionsThough many challenges remain, governments seeking to achieve the sustainable development goal of universal access to safe sanitation can emulate the success of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission.

Journal

Integrated Healthcare Journal – British Medical Journal

Published: Sep 30, 2019

Keywords: environmental health; hygiene; public health

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