The Centre on Tuesday launched an aggressive new campaign ‘Darwaza Band’ to promote toilet use and freedom from open defecation in villages across the country.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan — who has been a major supporter and ambassador for the Swachchh Bharat Mission and is already associated with its ongoing campaigns — and actress Anushka Sharma will be part of two new series of advertisement campaigns to be launched as part of ‘Darwaza Band’ campaign.

Through series of ads, Bachchan encourages behaviour change in men, who have toilets but are not using them, while Anushka Sharma makes a clarion call for women, who are more affected by this problem, to stand up for this issue in their village and influence a positive change.

The campaign produced by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) under Swachchh Bharat Mission was launched in the presence Bachchan, Union Minister for Drinking Water & Sanitation Narendra Singh Tomar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Secretary of MDWS Parameswaran Iyer in Mumbai.

Designed to encourage behaviour change in men who have toilets but are not using them, the ‘Darwaza Band’ campaign has been supported by the World Bank and is being rolled out countrywide immediately after the launch.

Tomar said that the achievement of 64 per cent of Open Defecation Free (ODF) status was a tribute to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment. He also congratulated Maharashtra on its significant achievement of 80 per cent of ODF. He said that all attempts are being made to make this into a true Jan Andolan. He said the goal for India should be to become a showcase country for cleanliness by 2019.

Thanking MDWS for choosing his State to launch the Darwaza Band Campaign and Bachchan for taking on the mandate of raising awareness about Swachchhta and endorsing the new campaign, Fadnavis said that Maharashtra was committed to become ODF by March 2018.

Bachchan said that the ‘Darwaza Band’ campaign dwelt upon a safe space for people to defecate. He said that he would continue to support the Swachh Bharat Mission as and when needed.

 Behaviour change has been the focus of Swachh Bharat Mission, which is being pursued through a countrywide comprehensive IEC (Information-Education-Communication) programme. Communication campaigns have been taken up both, at the central and State levels, for promoting sustained use of toilets and for sustaining the Open Defecation Free status achieved.

 Iyer announced that the number of people defecating in the open had reduced from 55 crores in May 2014 to 35 crores in May 2017. He said the program was not just a toilet construction program but focuses on behaviour change promoting sustainable usage, at both community and village levels