Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) Immersive Research

Praxis, the community-led total sanitation (CLTS) Knowledge Hub at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), together with WaterAid, undertook an immersive research project to learn from the experiences of three districts in India that had been declared open defecation free (ODF). The researchers spent three nights and up to four days in each of a total of eight villages in Madhya Pradesh (3), Uttar Pradesh (2) and Rajasthan (3). The mixed gender teams stayed with families, without a specific agenda, learning open-endedly from lived experience, observation and conversations. The main report sums up the key findings and suggests ways to strengthen the Swachh Bharat Mission – Gramin; the policy and practice note presents actionable recommendations; and the methodology note describes the activities, challenges, lessons learnt and guidance for use of the methodology by others.