Vidya Balan announced as the campaign ambassador for behavior change campaign by RB India and Pehel

 An initiative under Dettol Banega Swachh India with State Governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to make 200 villages Open Defecation Free

Mumbai, August 27, 2015: As part of its nationwide initiative Dettol Banega Swachh India, RB (formerly known as Reckitt Benckiser) India, along Pehel and State Governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, announced the launch of ‘Changing Behaviour: Creating Sanitation Change Leaders’. The project which aims to make 200 villages in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar open defecation free was inaugurated by veteran actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha and former Cabinet Minsiter Jairam Ramesh in Patna and Honourable Chief Minister, Shri Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow along with the Campaign AmbassadorVidya Balan who unveiled the mnemonic of the program. Other dignitaries present at the event were HH Swami Chidanand Saraswati, President and Founder, Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh and Professor Jack Sim, Founder, World Toilet Organization.

Speaking on the occasion, Campaign Ambassador, Vidya Balan, said, “For the past two years I have dedicated myself towards raising awareness around importance of hygiene and to stop open defecation. I am really proud to be a part of this campaign which is taking a different route of engaging with stakeholders and creating change leaders at community level to bring about this behaviour change.”

Through the initiative, the program will reach out and work closely with 500 PRI members, 500 natural and faith based leaders, 500 ASHAs / AWWs and 2 lakh mothers directly to drive a positive behaviour towards sanitation practices. Various activities like training of Panchayati Raj Institutions members using toolkit, exposure tours, Sanitation Chaupal, Capacity Building of frontline health  workers through game shows and Folk shows for sensitizing mothers. The progress will be monitored at each step to track the progress and achievements of change leaders will be recognized across these 100 villages in Bihar covering Bhagalpur district and another 100 villages in Uttar Pradesh covering Varanasi, Kannauj and Etawah districts.

Commenting on the launch of the project, Nitish Kapoor, Regional Director RB South Asia, said, “We are proud to partner with Pehel and the State Governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to launch this initiative which primarily aims towards driving behaviour change across communities. While we have a dedicated initiative targeting school children, we believe it is equally important to educate and encourage communities to adopt healthier hygiene and sanitation practices to create a positive impact on the society they live in. By the end of this campaign, we aim to help these 200 villages in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar become Open Defecation Free.” 

Speaking on the joint initiative, Mr. Anand Madhab, CEO Pehel, said, “To make India achieve its goal of improving sanitation and put an end to open defecation, it is imperative to change mindsets, attitude and behaviour of people towards the issue. Before installing toilets in homes, we need to install toilets in the minds of people. PRI members are local leaders as well as role models in the community and since the key driver for the issue is perception, attitude and behaviour changes we are zeroing in on the most, influential catalyzing agent present on ground. Moreover, the project is targeting caregivers (ASHAs/AWWs) and mothers as they play a central role in shaping up the children, the future. The project is the initial step towards changing people’s behaviour towards health, hygiene and sanitation and shall turn into a mega campaign in the near future.”

According to National Sample Survey Office and World Health Organisation, over 600 million Indians have no access to toilets. The proportion is worse in rural India – where 68% of rural households don’t have their own toilets. In order to achieve Open Defecation Free status, the project ‘Changing Behaviour: Creating Sanitation Change Leaders’ will be implemented using a three pronged strategy of environment building; capacity development and changing behaviours.