India CSR News Network

PUNE: Ramdas Ramsing Mane, the chairman of Pune based Mane Group has gifted a portable toilet to his village’s girl Sheetal Namdev Chapade in her marriage recently. Ramdas has announced that he will be providing a free gift of readymade RCC toilet at Mane Group of Companies to newly married girl to support the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan announced by Govt of India.

Last week, when a 22 years old women from Lodhavane village in Maan taluka of Satara district tied the nuptail knot, among the many gifts that she received, one stood out? a readymade portable toilet. The bride Sheetal Chopade belongs to the shepherd community and has married a man named Hanumant Kharat from Durgewadi village of Maan Taluka and both the families do not have toilets at home. Dada Saheb Chopade, uncle of bride, said, “the family which she married into is financially weak and cannot afford building a toilet and hence go out in the fields to defecate. This (the ready made toilet) is a unique gift because not only is it permanent but it will also keep the family members healthy.”

The gift is from Ramdas Mane businessman whose company Mane Group of Industries has been making portable toilets in 2007. “I have known the family for the past few years as we are from the same village. I was aware that they are economically weak. So when I received wedding invitation, I contacted the bride’s uncle Chopade and expressed a desire to give a toilet as gift. I wanted to ensure the family does not get offended but Chopade agreed,” said Mane.

I myself have grown in a family where there was no toilet culture and my family members defecated in the open. Many a times, women of the houses would fall sick and suffered from serious stomach ailments. Hence I thought a toilet would be an apt gift of Sheetal’s,” he added.

Lodhavane village has 350 families and a population of nearly 2100 people. While around 300 families own toilets other either use common toilet or go out in the fields in including the Chopades.

“People keep talking about cleanliness and about Swachh Bharat Mission. Unless every house has a toilet we, we will not be able to succeed in this mission. This is the first time I have gifted portable toilet as a aarriage gift and I realise how useful this gift can be for the girl and family she is married into. In future also, I will be willing to gift a toilet to any bride provided the family does not have a toilet and they cannot even offered a make one.” said Mane.

The Mane Group has supplied more than 20,000 readymade toilets across 450 remote villages of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, Tamilnadu spread around couple of thousand kilometres from Pune. The Mane Group has production facility of 30,000 portable toilets per year near Pune.

Ramdas Mane said, “Portable Readymade RCC Toilet’s innovation and creativity is viable and very good for country like India. These innovations would help in reducing manufacturing, installation and price by half. It would help in achieving spread and access thereby ensuring high level of democratic values. People will get access to good technology in less price.”