Adequate sanitation, together with good hygiene and safe water, are fundamental to good health and tosocial and economic development. That is why, Mahatma Gandhi in 1923 said, “sanitation is moreimportant than independence”. India is one of the fastest growing economies in the developing world interms of its GDP growth, in the five decades since independence, India has witnessed a significantachievement in many of the millennium development goals like reduction of extreme hunger and povertyby increasing self-sufficiency in food grains, increased life expectancy, sustainable management of itsnatural resources, rapid expansion in the urban, energy and industrial sectors etc., However India is stillfar behind other developing nations in terms of achievement in some of the very basic social andeconomic development indicators specially in the rural areas where majority of our population lives,65%2 of its rural areas are without sanitation facilities. According to the data released by the NationalSample Survey Office (NSSO) from a survey conducted in 2012 only 32% of rural households have theirown toilets and that less than half of Indian households have a toilet at home. Of the estimated billionpeople in the world who defecate in the open, more than half reside in India.

To address the current sanitation issues in India with the support from Reckitt & Benckiser and Danik Jagran Pahal, Progressive Foundation signed a tripartite agreement for making 100 ODF (Open Defecation Free) villages. The program was launched as “Dettol Banega Swachh “Dettol Banega SwachhIndia”, a 5-year ambitious program to address the rising need of hygiene and sanitation in India. The project aims at:

– Drive behaviour change towards hand hygiene, through numerous awareness initiatives such asthe School Hand Wash Program and Young Mother’s Program

– Improve sanitation facilities by working with NGO partners to identify areas across the country, tosupport the development and maintenance of cleaner toilets