The study is conducted in two stateswith different geographic, public health, and socioeconomiccharacteristics, together spanning a range of conditions inrural India: Maharashtra and Orissa. The secondaryobjectives of the study were to develop proxy indicators forroutine monitoring of the health impact of water andsanitation projects. A proxy is an easy-to-measure indicatorfor a hard to- measure impact. Here the goal is to identifythe intermediate outcomes (for example coverage of toiletsand taps) that are causally linked to the policy orintervention and to the outcome. The success of the analysisin establishing such links will determine the salience ofthe proxy indicators. Finally, World Bank also evaluate thebroader impacts of water, sanitation, and hygieneinterventions on rural livelihoods, such as savings in time,materials, and money invested in coping activities;improvements in convenience and privacy; and indirectbenefits to caregivers (for example gains in workefficiency, and time and work reallocation within the household).