Taking a Second Job Going #2: Indian Villagers Getting Paid to Not Crap in Local River

Talk about a cush job- the residents of Musiri, India are being paid not to crap in the local river. If they use one of the special designated areas (also know as toilets), they can make up $.14 a month!

That might not sound like a lot, but in Musiri broadband internet only costs a penny a month and a cup of coffee at the local Starbucks goes for ten for a penny.

CNN has it:

The government-backed program serves two purposes: It encourages people to discard age-old practices of urinating and defecating in the open, leading to diseases. And the waste products go into research to test their effectiveness as fertilizers.

“We’re motivating people to know the value of their urine,” said Marathi Subburaman, who came up with the novel idea. “The urine that is collected goes into fields for paddy crops, and of course the feces becomes good compost in a matter of months.”

Aid groups estimate that more than 330 million people in India do not have access to proper sanitation facilities. And in the case of Musiri, many residents relieve themselves on river banks, leading to infectious diseases such as diarrhea.

And while both governmental and non-governmental agencies have taken on projects to build toilets in rural areas, they also have had to undertake campaigns to encourage people to use them.

On top of the extra cash, villagers get a bit of a free health check- if they visit the WC more than three or four times a day they are told to go visit the doctor.

Check out the photo, that toilet empties directly into the water below. It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “dropping the kids off at the pool”.

Eww….

Link [CNN] via [Adventures in Capitalism]