Title: Nirmal gram puraskar and sanitation service levels
Description: This paper aims at presenting solid evidence on the slippage issues pertaining to sanitation interventions with findings from Andhra Pradesh, India, under WASHCost project which is implemented by International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC) and Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS). The results of this study are based on the data collected from 35000 households selected from 107 villages across the nine Agro climatic zones of Andhra Pradesh, of which 7800 households were from 21 NGP villages. The analysis shows that despite the best efforts towards achieving open defecation free villages, sustaining such status has become a majore challenge. The findings show that 21 villages that have received the clean village award (Nirmal Gram Puraskar) between 2007 and 2010 are reverting back to open defecation. Many households still lack toilets and those have are not using the toilets even in NGP villages. The analysis also explores the conditions and factors responsible for qualifying for Nirmal Gram Puraskar (clean village award) and the reasons for slipping back. The lessons learnt from five award winning villages for better sanitation are highlighted to use in information, education and communication activities apart from the suggestions of stepped up reward system for declaring NGP status and long term behavior change strategies. Convergence and sequence of harsware and soft ware components is mandatory with demand generation activities followed by fund disbursal. Paper suggests that mapping of sanitation seervice levels should be an integral part of WASH design for prioritizing the service provision to the un-served groups.