The document proposes the "Aarogyam" mobile toilet structure to address sanitation issues in rural India. It is a four-sided wooden structure with wheels and two chambers to separately collect urine and feces for use in biogas and farming. The structure was tested with a farmer's family in Rajasthan, who found it convenient and cost-effective compared to open defecation or public toilets. However, challenges included budget constraints, cultural sensitivities, and the large rural population.
3. Problems So Far…
77% of Rural Indian population doesn’t
have access to toilets.
Women have no other choice but to
defecate in the open between 2 am to 6
am when no one is watching. Their dignity
and safety is at stake always.
Open defecation is a major cause of
diseases since it provides perfect
atmosphere for flies and parasites to thrive.
4. Problems So Far…
Modern toilets aren’t well accepted in rural India due to
lack of water throughout the year.
Maintenance of modern ‘flush and water’ toilets is a
problem in rural Indian areas.
There is a lot of wastage of ‘fresh water’ in case toilets
are to be maintained, which in itself is a problem.
5. A Brief about ‘Aarogyam’
Proposed ‘mobile toilet’ called
Aarogyam to help people in
rural India defecate in a
private closed place.
A four sided structure with a
mosquito net on top to ensure
cover from all sides.
It will have wheels at the
bottom to ensure mobility.
It will have a door which can
be locked/closed.
6. A Brief about ‘Aarogyam’
Will have two chambers, one
each for collection of urine and
faeces.
With the help of a lever, the
faeces and urine will go to their
respective containers and get
collected for biogas and urine
farming.
Unique Selling Proposition – It
is portable, and the wooden
structure can be moved
wherever the pit is dug.
8. Objectives
Main objective is to follow the basic rules of AIDA
A – Attention (catching attention of the masses)
I – Interest (Creating their interest in this subject)
D – Desire (Making them feel that the service will benefit
them)
A – Action (Compelling them to take action)
9. A - Attention
In order to catch their attention, following steps will be
taken:
1. A Folk theatre can be organized consisting of skits.
Folk Theatres are the most popular forms of theatres in
rural India.
2. Wall Paintings are very effective for spreading
message in Rural India.
3. Educating rural school children.
10. I - Interest
The various techniques mentioned for getting attention
will aim to create an interest in the subject of sanitation,
toilets and sustainable development by using a ‘fear
appeal’.
Fear Appeal will be used by mentioning about the millions
of child deaths that happen due to lack of hygiene and
sanitation which causes diarrhea*
Mentioning USP – Portability.
*According to WHO, almost 50,000 children die every year in India due to diarrhea.
11. D - Desire
Apart from fear appeals and awareness measures,
incentives can be offered to create a desire among them
to use ‘Aarogyam’ - the sustainable toilet.
Incentives like ‘fuel for use in their farming machinery and
household work’ and ‘selling their faeces for biogas in
return for a sum of money’ can be given.
12. A - Action
The process will be complete only once the rural
population takes action, i.e. actually goes and starts
using the toilet regularly.
This completes the AIDA process.
13. Target Audience
Rural Indian audience starting from the age group of
14.
14. How it will work?
Step 1: This is a
wooden structure
covered on all four
sides. On the top, a
mosquito net ensures
total coverage.
It has wheels for
mobility, to take the
structure wherever
required.
17. How to dispose off the waste material?
The urine collected can be diluted with water, to be
sprinkled over crops since it acts as a good fertilizer.
The faeces will get collected in a biogas digester.
The bio gas digester will be made by constructing a
concrete square shaped hole covered with concrete slab
with a hole at the centre covered by an iron lid.
18. Impacts and Benefits
Save water and prevent contamination of water sources
and increases soil fertility, thus improving food crop
yields.
Simple in design and can be built using local labour and
materials. They use appropriate, sustainable technology
and are operational at home and village level.
Great benefit to the whole family, particularly women and
girls.
The method and concept is simple and yet retains the
basic elements of ecological sanitation, it can be thought
of as a good first step along a route of increasing
sophistication within the realm of ecological sanitation.
19. Implementation
This is the real life execution of the ‘Aarogyam’
structure
• For actual implementation of this project, we
installed this structure in Karanpur village in Sri
Ganganagar district of Rajasthan, India.
• A head of family of farmers, Mr. Ram Kumar was
asked to use this for a minimum of 15 days with his
family.
• Our social program started with informing and
educating Mr. Ram Kumar’s family to ensure that
they understand the new facility.
20. Implementation
It’s very good that we don’t have to
go far away to defecate in the open. Now I don’t have to walk one mile to a
We have our own toilet now. Also, vegetable patch outside the village to
we don’t have to spend much on find a secluded place in order to
maintenance. We will continue defecate.
using this. - Bhagwati Devi (Ram Kumar’s wife)
- Mr. Ram Kumar, Farmer in
Rajasthan
21. Implementation
This structure has helped me
tremendously. I don’t need to worry
about spending money to use public
urinals which most often are badly
maintained and stinking.
Mr. Amar Singh, Construction Site Worker
Wheels at the bottom of our
structure for movement
22. Challenges Faced
• Budget Constraints – The most basic constraint was budget. We created a
single structure, which along with the cost of the carpenter cost us Rs. 2500
(Indian Currency), which amounts to $50 per structure.
Cost of making up to 100 structures for a single district would cost $5000.
• Cultural Sensitivity – educating the rural population by changing their
present beliefs of defecating in the open posed as a challenge initially, but
could be overcome.
• Population Constraints – The rural population is enormous. A large
population ensures making better preparations for educating a large audience,
informing them. This further translates into higher costs.
23. Post-Campaign Evaluation
When are trying to implement on a full fledged scale
on mass level, following measures will be evaluated:
To evaluate the impact and receptiveness to a campaign
To test whether the campaign transmits the intended
message
To test a campaign’s call to action
To evaluate which options for a campaign would be
potentially more effective
24. References
World Health Organization’s annual report on India
http://cee45q.stanford.edu/2003/briefing_book/india.html
The CIA World Fact Book: India.
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/in.html
Personal Interviews: Mr. Ram Kumar – Sri Ganganagar District, Rajasthan,
India. Mrs. Bhagwati Devi - Sri Ganganagar District, Rajasthan, India.
Mr. Amar Singh - Sri Ganganagar District, Rajasthan, India
Local User Demographics by World Bank, WHO and The Hindu newspaper.
25. Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Challenge Future for making us seek such
avenues which have resulted in our overall development and has
helped us grow as human beings.
We would like to thank our parents for their constant support.
Mr. Ram Kumar and his family for their cordial support by using this
structure.
Ms. Khyati Busa for sketches and pictorial representations.
A special thanks to Mr. Akshat Shukla for his continuous support
and keeping us motivated.