Banega Swasth India

Building Healthy WASH Habits for a Stronger Tomorrow

An initiative designed to encourage healthy habits among young children to reduce future risks of non-communicable diseases.

Explore Eating Well

Access to safe sanitation and clean water is every child’s right, and key to their health, learning, and dignity. The Dettol-Harpic Banega Swasth India led by Sesame Workshop India Trust in partnership with Reckitt, is a joyful and action-oriented initiative to promote hygiene, sanitation, and health awareness among young children. The program aims to empower young learners with essential health knowledge, supporting their growth into confident leaders who help build cleaner, healthier communities.

The program is now in its third year and is steadily expanding its reach in alignment with the national Swachh Bharat: Swachh Vidyalaya mission and India’s Viksit Bharat @2047 vision.

Focus on Prevention Rather than Intervention

With funding from Abbott, Sesame Workshop has launched Healthy Bodies Healthy Minds, a multi-country initiative including in India. It adopts a holistic well-being and preventative approach to raise awareness on the importance of balanced nutrition, quality sleep and physical activity among children and key influencers in their life.  

Youtube Playlist

Discover printables, videos, and more on topics important to your family or the families you work with.

Meet Julia from Sesame Street

A video introducing Julia, a bright 4-year-old autistic child who lives on Sesame Street.

  • Autism
  • Ages 1–6

Bringing Julia to Life

A video about the beginnings of the Sesame Street autism initiative, and the muppet Julia.

Behind the Scenes: Julia’s Family

A video about the creation of Sesame Street’s Julia, who is autistic, and some of the people that helped bring her and her family to life.

Julia’s Bunny

Sesame Street’s Juila and Elmo play together— and find common interests.

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In its first year, the program began by listening closely to children—conducting a perception study to better understand their everyday experiences with toilets and hygiene in school. Guided by their voices, we built a playful and engaging education framework and introduced storybooks and 3D puzzles featuring relatable BSI WASH puppets like Neela Jadugar and KK Kitanu to spark curiosity and help children grasp essential hygiene concepts. Launched by the Hon’ble President of India, the initiative reached over 17,000 children across 873 schools.

In the second year (2023–2024), the program focused on deepening behaviour change through animated videos, comic books, and interactive materials, while also gathering insights through research to strengthen our approach.

Now, in Year 3 (2024–2025), the program is scaling up to 600 schools across three districts in Punjab, including an aspirational district, reaching 60,000 children. Insights from the first two years of the project highlighted that both children and adults are familiar with healthy hygiene habits. Building on this awareness, the current phase focuses on nurturing consistent behaviours among children by encouraging positive attitudes and daily hygiene practices through institutionalising the intervention.

Helping Children Grow Smarter, Stronger, and Kinder.

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