ABSTRACT Sanitation policies in India have primarily focused on infrastructure development, through building latrines and toilets. Given the persistence of open defecation in India despite such efforts, emphases on behavioral change interventions are crucial. We explore why and how the dual nature of purity and degradation in public and private spaces is relevant to such problems. In the context of sanitation and health policies in India, we propose an intervention that exploits social norms associated with purity via the use of religious imagery in public spaces as a deterrent for unhygienic sanitation behaviors. This intervention falls within the framework of nudging, which has received great emphasis in recent policy discussions. In the absence of empirical data on the intervention, this paper takes into account considerations of ethics, implications, cost, and scalability; suggestions on implementing the intervention at various levels of government are provided keeping in mind India’s socio-cultural context.

中文翻译：

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印度的“神圣轻推”和卫生决定

摘要 印度的卫生政策主要侧重于基础设施建设，通过建造厕所和厕所。尽管做出了这些努力，但鉴于印度仍然存在露天排便现象，因此强调行为改变干预措施至关重要。我们探讨了公共和私人空间中纯净和退化的双重性质为何以及如何与这些问题相关。在印度的卫生和健康政策的背景下，我们提出了一种干预措施，通过在公共场所使用宗教意象来阻止不卫生的卫生行为，从而利用与纯洁相关的社会规范。这种干预属于轻推的框架，这在最近的政策讨论中得到了极大的重视。在缺乏干预经验数据的情况下，本文考虑了伦理、影响、成本和可扩展性；考虑到印度的社会文化背景，提供了在各级政府实施干预的建议。