India, Feb. 8 -- The recent passing of Mark Tully, the legendary BBC broadcaster, brought into focus the importance of radio as a communication vehicle in a vast and diverse country like India. It is for this reason Seeking Modern Applications for Real Transformation (SMART)'s work on a project by the WASH-CCES team, supported by UNICEF, Delhi, that works across four states with 25 community radio stations to reinforce Swachh Bharat objectives becomes so relevant. An example from Jhabua reflects the power of community radio in remote areas. When 25-year-old Santi Damor moved to Mohanpura, a village just seven km away from Jhabua town, after marriage, she expected rural life to be different. Born into the Bhil tribal community, she had studied up to college and she carried with her habits and ideas shaped by that education. But, in Mohanpura, she was struck by one reality above all: Despite having a toilet, no one in her new home used it. It had become a storeroom, while the family used the fields for toilet purposes. This unsettled her deeply. For Santi, the daily walk outside not only felt unsafe and uncomfortable, but also was a violation of her privacy. Yet, she also knew that changing her in-laws' age-old habits would not be easy. So, at first, she stayed silent. But she was not about to accept things as they were. The turning point came when a team from Radio Tantya visited the village. The team met with the local women's self-help group (SHG), of which Santi was a new member. It spoke in plain, direct words about hygiene, women's dignity, and why toilets matter. Through narrowcasting, it explained how families could prevent 36 diseases. Sitting with other women from her community, Santi felt her hesitation turn into resolve. In the SHG that she had joined months after marriage, she found companionship with other women, many of whom also felt uneasy about sanitation but had never voiced it. The message hit home for Santi. She remembered her children's constant illnesses in the past, the embarrassment of walking into the fields, and the toilet in her house that was gathering dust. That evening, she decided she could not wait any longer. She told her husband firmly that the toilet must be repaired and used or else she would leave for her parents' home. Using both reason and threat, she was able to persuade him. Together, they cleared the stored items, fixed the broken pipes, and scrubbed the space until it was usable again. Within two days, the toilet was repaired. The entire family began using it. Her action did not stop at her doorstep. When Santi shared her story at the next SHG meeting, eight families followed her lead. Toilets that had been ignored for years were cleaned and put back into use. Women spoke openly about how much safer they felt, and children were relieved that they no longer had to walk long distances. Soon after, another programme from Radio Tantya on waste management inspired the SHG to act again. Together, the women discussed the hazards of dumping garbage in open spaces. Under Santi's leadership, the SHG cleaned an old pit near the village school for waste collection. Plans were made to turn the collected waste into compost for farming, linking sanitation directly to livelihoods Today, sanitation in Mohanpura is closely tied to Santi's voice. The women's group now keeps hygiene on the agenda in every meeting and has resolved to monitor households regularly. This transformation brought about by the power of community radio has been replicated in other parts of the country to tackle various issues, including domestic violence. Today, Santi and the other women know that when new issues arise, they can seek help from the radio team....