Women in Haryana, India, are fighting against insanitation by insisting that their daughter marry into a household with a toilet. The campaign is part of the government's objective of improving sanitation practices across the agriculture-dependent state.

In India, 665 million people still defecate in the open and diseases like diarrhoea and typhoid, which are caused by bad hygiene, are rampant. The Haryana state government started the campaign four years ago, raising awareness through radio jingles, television advertisements, posters and banners. Since then, 1.41 million toilets have been built in Haryana, which surrounds the Indian capital of Delhi on three sides. Of these, about 950,000 were built by families living above the poverty line and the rest by households below it.

The 'no toilet, no bride' slogan has reaped benefits. Suresh Devi, 52, a resident of Shahar Malpur village, about 100 km from New Delhi, was forced to defecate in the open until recently. When her daughter got married, she made sure the bride had a toilet in her new home.

Related web site: India. Department of Drinking Water Supply - Total Sanitation Campaign

Related news:

• India, Haryana: 'revolution' improves sanitation and defeats open defecation, Source South Asia, 12 Nov 2008;
• India, Andhra Pradesh: lowest number of working toilets, Source South Asia, 23 Jan 2009;
• India, Maharashtra: drastic measures to make people use toilets, Source South Asia, 22 Jan 2009

Source: Ritu Sharma, IANS / Calcutta News.Net, 13 Mar 2009

Tags: gender, hygiene promotion, information and communication, on-site sanitation, south asia, water-related diseases