Societal Awareness towards Activities related to Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Sanitation and cleanliness are the two major extremities that supports Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) is a ruthless project and has been successful in bringing a difference at the facility and infrastructure level, and the objectives of this programme can be achieved if people are aware of this mission and basic sanitation, cleanliness and waste management practices and how these put impact on health. This cross-sectional study evaluated the awareness of selected society toward SBA and its association with the socio-demographic variables through closed-ended questionnaires. The study was conducted across 251 individuals with an age of above 18 years from different areas of Punjab and its villages. The major respondents of the study are taken persons living BPL, marginalised people and untouched segment of the society as Sewer Man, Rag Picker, Rehri Wala, Labourer, Guards, House Maids, Sweepers, Gardener etc. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was done using the frequencies distribution, mean score with rank correlation and chi-square test with the SPSS 21.0 software. It can be concluded that participants are generally aware about SBA and they are also found aware about the different activities that are done under SBA. When the association was studied of SBA awareness and demographic variables of the respondents, it was found that there is no significant association sustain between SBA awareness and demographic variables like age, gender, educational qualification and residential status.