Rapid action towards ODF in Saharanpur District in India: stunting, menstruation and other innovations in CLTS

In 2016, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation(MDWS), Government of India (GoI) empanelled competent organizations and individuals to offer on-demand capacity building support and guidance on community wide approaches for sanitation to different districts and states in India. The Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is an UN agency and as an empanelled organization for training works closely with the district of Saharanpur towards making it an ODF district. Constantly looking for innovative ways to influence behaviour change, WSSCC deployed new tools of stunting and menstruation to galvanize communities to make Saharanpur an open defecation free district of Uttar Pradesh. It showed startling success in the district within few months without using cash incentive to propel behaviour change. This paper outlines the new methods and tools adopted for community wide approaches, its challenges and outcomes.