Towards open defecation free Vijayapura: A communication intervention

The practice of Open Defection is still a harsh reality in rural India. More than half of the rural masses in Vijayapura, a northern district in the state of Karnataka in India practice open defecation despite numerous campaigns like Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, Swachh Bharat Mission etc. The key focus is on behaviour change communication (BCC) to change the behaviour. Though Karnataka has been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF), the ground situation remains dismal. In order to find out why communication campaigns are failing, an action research was designed and undertaken in Vijayapura, where a combination of communication channels such as street plays, speech, distribution of pamphlets, one to one communication was employed. Focus group discussion was conducted after the intervention with communication agents and selected respondents. The study shows that majority of the rural households accept open defecation as a normal practice. Those who felt the need for toilets, implementation of financial assistance, space etc. was a concern. This research tries to identify the lacuna in implementation of open defecation and address the gaps. Though BCC is bringing about desired change though slowly, important aspects such as health and implementation of government financial schemes should improve to a great extent.