“Swachchta Kranti” was a behaviour change campaign created to target large religious gatherings. The aim was to collaborate with faith leaders to spread the message of an open defecation free land. The approach stemmed from the observations that faith leaders have a much larger impact on behaviour change than advocacy from doctors, scientists or celebrities.
The Kumbh mela, being the largest gathering in the world, was the platform on which the campaign was executed. Interventions were organised in the Ardh Kumbh mela held at Haridwar as well as the Maha Kumbh at Ujjain. With over 15,00,000 people attending the mela everyday, a series of activities were planned across the camps, targeting the rural audience.
A variety of mediums like parades, plays, public service announcements featuring prominent faith leaders, mobile stage shows, street dancers and hoardings were used across the venue. These were used to share information on government subsidies and benefits of toilet use along with the negative impact of open defecation on our health and environment.
From conceptualization to on-ground implementation was entirely handled by TheShift. Monitoring and evaluations results post the campaign reflected that the people attending the interventions were 2.7 times more likely to use/build a toilet.
Content + MessagingWith the support of the biggest faith leaders in the country, the message of an open defecation free land was used on hoardings across the venue. The leaders held sermons on the benefits of an open defecation free country in their respective camps at the Kumbh Mela. The focus was on using the religious scriptures to highlight sanitation as an essential step towards the path to God.
Short Films with Faith LeadersMultiple clips with the faith leaders were created for the campaign. The revered leaders spread the message of sanitation using references from the religious scriptures and belief systems. The strategy was to showcase the approach of cleanliness being one of the paths to God. The messages also emphasised on keeping the blessed land of the Kumbh clean, as a mark of respect to the creator.
Sanitation MarchThe faith leaders held marches where the visitors participated by pledging to use a toilet and ensuring their friends, families and neighbours do the same. Marches were held from various Kumbh Mela camps towards the main dip areas, with the faith leaders showing the way.
Information + RegistrationMultiple kiosks were set up across the Kumbh Mela, where the visitors could sign up to be a part of the Swachhata Kranti Campaign. Registrants were given a booklet containing information on government subsidies and a toll free number for updates and queries. A majority of the audience did not know about the monetary support the government provided and once this was communicated, most were ready to build and use toilets. The kiosks also doubled up as feedback centres where people that were already in the process of building toilets shared the issues and bottlenecks they faced while accessing the subsidies.
Puppet Shows + Street Plays Several 10 minute plays with characters from everyday life as well as mythology were developed to explain the need to stop open defecation. Some plays focused on the health benefits of toilet use while the others appealed to the religious ideology and the sanctity of the Kumbh Mela to drive home the message.
