Ananova:

An Indian man has launched a campaign to stop people answering the call of nature outdoors.

Ravi Shankar Singh goes out on patrol each night searching for people squatting in fields or by roadsides.

When he catches someone, he shines his torch at them and lets loose with a blast on his whistle.

Mr Singh, of Hasanpur, is the village's self-appointed sanitation guardian, reports the LA Times.

Defecation in open places contributes to disastrous levels of public health problems in India by spreading illnesses and parasites, such as diarrhoea and hookworms.

"The whole idea is to put pressure on people to use the toilets," says Singh, a 46-year-old farmer.

He has recruited two dozen men and women to help him scour Hasanpur for offenders. And while the squatters may not like it, Singh says, humiliation is very effective.

Public health officials say their efforts to improve hygiene are hindered by the fact that defecating outdoors remains socially acceptable across huge swaths of Indian society.

But Mr Singh believes the power of shame can change behaviour.

"In some small way, there has been a change of mind-set, a revolution of sorts," he says.