Bollywood Actor Akshay Kumar launched an advertisement campaign for the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) at a Collectors Convention for Toilet Technology organized in the capital. The campaign focuses on promoting the twin pit toilet technology in rural India. Akshay’s co-star Bhumi Pednekar actress of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha will be seen in the campaign along with Akshay.

After the launch, the actor interacted with Swachh Bharat Mission officials, communication experts, district collectors, and members from the media. In his interaction with the media, he stressed on the need for the influencers of society to talk freely about toilets, as well as empty toilet pits around the country to destigmatize cleaning of one’s own toilet by family members itself.

The advertisement is supported by the World Bank and is an effort towards encouraging this technology using mass media. The ad film will be available on the YouTube channel of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) (link tinyurl.com/sbmgramin). The ad will be translated in several regional languages and the Hindi version will be aired on various television channels with immediate effect.

Shri Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, in his welcome address, spoke about the contribution made by the actor to the Swachh Bharat Mission. Toilet Ek Prem Katha, has been appreciated by both rural and urban people across the country and everyone likes his participation in the twin pit toilet advertisement campaign for the Swachh Bharat Mission. In fact, Akshay Kumar has been a strong supporter of the sanitation movement underway in the country

The District Collectors and field officials, during the interaction, spoke about the power of women in leading the sanitation mission in rural areas, and the role played by the movie, “Toilet Ek Prem Katha” in leading this behavior change. It was also announced by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation on this occasion that the producers of Toilet Ek Prem Katha have given rights to all State and District teams of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) to screen the movie in villages on a non-commercial basis.

The twin pit toilet technology was invented in India and is the most well-suited toilet technology for rural India, and is recommended by Government of India and the World Health Organization. It is scientifically proved and the decomposed waste is safe to handle and rich in NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) nutrients which makes it ideal for use in agriculture.