Publication:

Practice of environmental sanitation and hygiene in the light of “Swacha Bharat Abhiyan”: a study among female residents of rural Punjab, India

Background India has achieved the status of open defecation free (ODF) in 2019 October but women involvement in the actual process of implementation of the programme is very minimal. Objective of the study was to assess the awareness level & practice of environmental sanitation and hygiene and also to find out the association with demographic variables.

Methods Present study was conducted in a rural community of Punjab, India in June 2019 among 400 females. Data was collected in a predesigned structured questionnaire and was analyzed using descriptive and analytic statistics.

Results Most common source of drinking water among the participants was community RO point (54.5%) and method of SWD among the community was dumping (80%). Four out of five participants had the opinion that their village is unclean and improper solid waste disposal (37.3%) was the main reason. 95% of the participants had not participated in any community cleanliness activity also. Participants having higher educational status (p=0.0001), lower & middle class family (p=0.001) and member of small family (p=0.009) had heard significantly more about “Swacha Bharat Abhiyan”.

Conclusions Policies need to be formulated that enable women to participate in the sanitation interventions. Special focus should be given young, educated women from middle and lower socio economic status so that they become the role model of the society.