Amrita researchers publish decade-long study on women’s civic participation and sustainable sanitation in rural India in Q1 journal Frontiers in Water
A decade-long research study examining the lasting impact of women-led civic participation and sustainable sanitation practices in rural India has been published in Frontiers in Water, a Q1-ranked international journal.
The study, titled “Ten years on: A comparative study of women-led civic participation and sustainable sanitation in rural India,” brings together the research contributions of Dr. Srividya Sheshadri, Sharanya Shriram, Radhika Radhakrishnan, Krishna R. Pillai, T. S. Shyamkumar, T. M. Megha, Sooraj Nair, Anagha Karuvallil, and Dr. Bhavani Rao R.
The research revisits a women-led sanitation intervention implemented in rural Haryana and examines the communities approximately ten years after the original programme had concluded. At its core, the study explores an important question in sustainable development: What makes positive social change last?
Looking Beyond Infrastructure
The study found that both villages had achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, demonstrating progress in sanitation infrastructure and practices. However, significant differences emerged between the communities in areas including menstrual waste management, civic action, community participation, and ongoing sanitation activities.
One of the study’s most significant findings was that civic participation emerged as the only significant predictor of menstrual waste management.
The finding highlights the importance of looking beyond physical infrastructure when evaluating the sustainability of development interventions. While access to sanitation facilities is essential, long-term change also depends on the ability of communities to participate collectively, maintain local initiatives, and strengthen systems that support positive practices.
Women’s Participation as a Foundation for Sustainable Change
The research underscores the critical role of women’s participation in civic life. When women are actively involved in community decision-making and civic processes, they can contribute to collective action and help sustain practices that improve community well-being.
The findings suggest that sustainable development is not achieved simply by introducing infrastructure or encouraging individual behavioural change. Rather, lasting transformation is strengthened when individual practices are supported by community participation, civic engagement, and locally sustained systems.
This perspective is particularly significant for sanitation and menstrual health, areas where social norms, community systems, access to resources, and participation intersect.
Research with a Social Purpose
The study reflects a broader vision of research that seeks to translate academic knowledge into meaningful social impact. By returning to communities a decade after an intervention, the researchers were able to examine not only what changed immediately after the programme, but also which aspects of that change endured over time.
The research resonates with the vision articulated by Amma, who has emphasised that the impact of universities and researchers should be measured not only through conventional academic indicators, but also through the extent to which research benefits vulnerable communities.
“Today, universities and their researchers are ranked mainly based on the amount of funding they receive, the number of papers they publish, and their intellectual caliber, but along with this, we should take into consideration how much we have been able to use their research to serve the lowest and most vulnerable strata of society.”
The study exemplifies this approach by connecting rigorous academic research with questions of community well-being, women’s participation, sanitation, and sustainable development.
A Meaningful Contribution to Sustainable Development Research
The publication in Frontiers in Water represents an important contribution to research on sanitation, gender, civic participation, and community-led development. Its decade-long perspective offers valuable insights into how development interventions can create conditions for change to endure beyond the duration of a programme.
The research team comprises Dr. Srividya Sheshadri, Sharanya Shriram, Radhika Radhakrishnan, Krishna R. Pillai, T. S. Shyamkumar, T. M. Megha, Sooraj Nair, Anagha Karuvallil, and Dr. Bhavani Rao R.
Their work reinforces a powerful principle: the true measure of research lies not only in what we discover, but also in what that knowledge makes possible for the communities we serve.
The full research paper is available in Frontiers in Water: Read the full research paper
