Health Communication and Public Health Campaigns in India: A Critical Examination of IEC Strategies in the Swachh Bharat–Swasth Bharat Abhiyan
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Abstract
The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA), launched by the Government of India in October 2014, remains among the
largest behaviour-change communication exercises attempted anywhere in the world, seeking to link sanitation
infrastructure with a broader vision of public health captured in the allied discourse of a "Swasth Bharat" (Healthy
India). This paper undertakes a critical examination of the Information, Education, and Communication (IEC)
strategies deployed under the campaign, situating them within established health communication theory, including
the Health Belief Model, Social Cognitive Theory, and the Diffusion of Innovations framework. Drawing on
secondary data, government reports, and existing scholarship, the paper argues that while the SBA achieved
significant success in constructing sanitation infrastructure and shifting public discourse on open defecation, its
IEC strategies exhibited a persistent gap between behavioural messaging and sustained behaviour change,
particularly in rural and tribal contexts. The paper further examines the campaign's use of celebrity endorsement,
mass media saturation, interpersonal communication through frontline workers, and digital media, and considers
the limitations of a top-down, target-driven communication model in addressing deeply embedded socio-cultural
practices. The paper concludes with recommendations for a more participatory, community-anchored model of
health communication for future public health campaigns in India.
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