A monetary reward awaits residents of an Indian city for using public toilets in an attempt to reduce the number of people urinating and defecating in public places.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has started the initiative to urge its residents to use its 300 public toilets and to stop them from eliminating waste and urine in public streets, open areas, and walls, Business Insider reported.
Many people in India believe that it is more hygienic to defecate far away from home, as they consider toilets to be insanitary.
"The idea behind this project is to prevent open defecation in parts of the city where people, despite having public toilets, defecate in the open," said Pravin Patel, standing committee chairman at AMC, according to the Agence France Presse.
Patel added that repeat offenders will be named and encouraged to use the allotted toilets.
The offer will have its trial run at 67 public facilities across Ahmedabad, which will give one rupee ($0.016) to each toilet user, according to AMC health officer Bhavikk Joshi.
"Once successful, the project will be implemented in all the 300 public toilets in Ahmedabad," Joshi said.
There are more people in India who have access to mobile phones than to an improved sanitation and toilet, according to United Nation experts. This converts into 48 percent of Indians who do not have access to proper sanitation.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced last year the campaign "Clean India Mission" that aims to make public spaces in the country nicer and sanitary. This latest effort is part of his five-year drive to end open defecation in India, which is expected to be achieved by 2019.
