India, It’s Time To #GiveAShit About #SwacchBharat Abhiyan

Youth Ki Awaaz starts web series about ground realities of rural india that prevents people from accessing toilets.

Suresh Prasad’s puppet show in Bihar. (Photo: Screengrab/Youth Ki Awaaz)

Despite continuous awareness campaigns such as the Swacch Bharat Mission, open-defecation woes still persists in rural India. Building toilets with the aim of eradicating open defecation by 2019 might not be enough to resolve the issue.

In an attempt to sensitise people about the consequences of open defecation, Youth Ki Awaaz has started a web series titled #Giveashit.

The series aims at highlighting the ground reality of Swachh Bharat in a documentary style format.
— Anshul Tewari, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Youth Ki Awaaz

The first episode narrates the story of Suresh Prasad, who runs a local acting troupe in Bihar. Prasad and his team has produced a puppet show, peppered with humour and folk music, talking about the harmful effects of open defecation and importance of using a toilet.

By the end of the show, children are seen laughing hysterically and Prasad has evidently struck a chord with the audience. Prasad says his team is associated with a lot of issues. Claiming he is being fondly called ‘Uncle Outlaw’, his team can put out a show about any issue in the world.

According to a UN report, 626 million people in India practice open defecation. It’s a traditional habit which is socially accepted. India also accounts for 59 percent of the 1.1 billion people in the world who practice open defecation.

Youth Ki Awaaz aims to release the last episode on 2 October 2015, marking one year of the Swacch Bharat initiative.