NEW DELHI: Pointing out that the change in the social norm of defecating in the open to using toilets is the biggest achievement in behavioural change, Sanjeev Shekhar Jha, project leader, India Sanitation Coalition, said there has been a shift in discourse on sanitation in the country since 2014.
Aecal sludge continues to be dumped indiscriminately in open areas... What do you think is the way forward?
Even five years ago, sanitation was considered as an uninteresting thing. It was only around 2014 when people started taking interest in sanitation. Treatment is even more relatively recent.
The stakeholders, including the government, has started realising the importance of faecal sludge being properly disposed of. Things have already started to change. But the change has just set in.
What do you think have been the biggest milestones in behavioural change in terms of open-defecation-free (ODF)?
Behaviour is a function of multiple things. Even affluent people in the village would prefer to go out to defecate despite a toilet being there in the household.
The social norm has changed over the years. The new social norm which we have been able to create in India is one should not defecate in the open — you are not only polluting the surface water and surface soil, but it also has the potential to cause a number of diseases.
What do you think would be the basis for sustaining ODF?
A sustained campaign through adopting methodology by harnessing the local resources is key to this. It is important that any communication campaign, where we intend to change the overall behavioural pattern of a population, should harness local resources.
The momentum of any campaign should be kept up for people to internalise the new norm.
What do you think are the other allied activities that can be supported under the ODF plus strategy?
The most important thing is a complete focus on hygiene - washing your hand at critical times - right after using toilet, before you start out to eat your meal, and before you are entering kitchen to handle your food. In the rural context, handling of water kept in a pitcher is critical.
A clean device should be used to access the water from the pot. The other most important thing to remember is the faecal matter of a child is to dispose the same manner as the faecal matter of an adult.
The caregiver must ensure that the faecal matter is not just thrown anywhere. This would make our case stronger to sustain ODF status.