"Beyond Construction: Use by All" is a collection of case studies from sanitation and hygiene promotion practitioners in South Asia, published in 2008, by WaterAid and the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.

This document has the following four case studies from India:

Sl. 10. India's national sanitation and hygiene programme: From experience to policy, West Bengal and Maharashtra models provide keys to success - Pg 126: This paper analyses the progress of the Total Sanitation Campaign being implemented in rural India, with a focus on West Bengal and Maharashtra, and draws lessons from these two states (apart from Kerala) which are in the forefront in this national campaign for total sustainable sanitation.

This paper attempts to show that despite policy and access to funds, the national progress on sanitation has been slow and uneven for almost two decades. Also highlights the role of the Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI), a system of local governance by elected representatives which came into force in 1993 under the 73rd amendment of the Indian constitution.

Sl. 13. Sustainable Community Owned Total Sanitation (SCOTS) - Pg 169: This paper looks at the reasons why PLAN India (an international development organisation) developed the SCOTS approach to sanitation, the methods by which it is carried out, the impacts that pilot schemes have had and the lessons that can be drawn.

This case study present at how Plan India developed SCOTS to confront the well documented lack of sustainability in sanitation provision. This paper attempts to show the impact of the SCOTS approach would be the only major water and environmental sanitation intervention in India. The achievements in a remote corner of Andhra Pradesh have influenced Plan India’s whole country strategy, further confirming the success of the SCOTS approach.

Sl. 16. Promoting sanitation through decentralised governance: A case study of Rajukhedi Panchayat in India - Pg 201: This paper looks at the experience of Rajukhedi Panchayat (Sehore district, Madhya Pradesh) in implementing the Total Sanitation Campaign in a decentralised manner, and proves that such an approach involving an active Gram Sabha (assembly of village inhabitants) and the local community can eradicate open defecation completely.

This paper attempts to highlight the bottlenecks of the Government of India’s large-scale sanitation programme, the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC). Moreover, it aims to demonstrate that effective sanitation coverage is possible. Rajukhedi Panchayat of Sehore district in Madhya Pradesh (MP) is an example of decentralised sanitation implementation, which was adopted through the institutional backing of the village Panchayat. The leadership of the Panchayat not only achieved the Nirmal Gram Puraskar, an award for attaining open defecation free status, for its own Panchayat, but also influenced many neighbouring Panchayats to adopt the same process.

Sl. 17. Preventing corruption, encouraging transparency and accountability in the water and sanitation sector: A case study from Kerala, India - Pg 212: This paper looks at how the Jalanidhi Water and Sanitation project implemented in Kerala, considerably reduced corruption, by involving the local community in the planning and implementation of the project.

The case study also looks at that participation of the people is necessary to eradicate corruption. It shows that organising a strong social movement at a grassroots level boosts anti-corruption drives. This roots out corruption and improves social values. This project shows that the actions of capacitated civil society as a watchdog is an excellent way to check corruption in community-managed water supply schemes.

Read More

For more info on IRC, click here

For more info on WaterAid, click here