As per World Health Organization, around 600 million people; 50% population of India, defecate in the open. India accounts for 59% of the world population who practice open defecation.

Open defecation poses a serious threat to the health of children in India and over 120,000 children under the age of 5 die of diarrhea annually.

The Prime Minister of India launched ‘Clean India Mission’ on the 2nd of October, 2014 to achieve universal sanitation coverage and eradicate open defecation from the country.

However, getting the right infrastructure in place is only half the battle. To achieve a Clean India, driving behavioral change towards personal hygiene and sanitation is equally important.

RB decided to join forces with the government’s program and launched Banega Swachh India” (BSI) (Make India Clean) in 2014, as a national movement for driving behavior change among people regarding toilet usage, for better health, hygiene and sanitation practices.

Season 4 went live in June 2017, with a 12 hour live Cleanliness drive aired on leading news channels, featuring panel discussions on effective measures for a clean India, involving celebrities and influencers from all walks of life.

The Hygiene Education Bus travelled across 500 villages in 6 states to inform people about proper sanitation through street plays.

Specially curated Hygiene curriculum was introduced in 250,000 schools, in 14 languages (including braille.)

13,000 community health workers contacted new mothers, educating them about hygiene practices, through specially designed baby books in their native language.

Hygiene messages appeared at the Kumbh Mela, (the largest human religious gathering), where 50,000 religious leaders supported the program to ensure messages of cleanliness were engrained in popular culture as well.

Mass media engagement occurred through regular conversations on TV, Newspapers and on the platform microsite, which brought to life the sanitation issue in a relatable way.