Nudging people to use toilets, the Shaastra way

Behaviour science wing of Shaastra conducted campaigns, surveys and demonstrated the after-effects of open defecation

Shaastra, commencing on January 13, has come up with a campaign to nudge people to use toilets and follow hygiene through behavioural intervention.

Mind Trails is the behavioural science wing of Shaastra, which, in collaboration with the India Behavioural Economics Network (IBEN), aims to source actionable solutions to social issues. The initiative lasted five months and its behavioural impact case study competition ‘Nudge It’ saw over 700 registrations from universities across the country. The competition will culminate at Shaastra 2022.

The students surveyed the villagers of Vadakka Immanampatti and Rajagiri near Pudukottai to assess their sanitation behaviour and found that mainly men were averse to using toilets.

They then used behavioural science to introduce interventions aimed at nudging the men to use toilets. The interventions included street plays and demonstrations to show the after-effects of open defecation.

Students painted posters to encourage use of toilets. Ankit Aryan, coordinator of the publicity team, Shaastra IIT Madras, said registrations for various events were open and those interested could register at shaastra.org. For the latest updates visit Instagram page – @shaastra_iitm

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