Ingersoll Rand completes school repair and sanitation program at Corporation Primary School, Taramani, Chennai

Ingersoll Rand and Habitat for Humanity had signed an agreement in March 2016 to undertake school repairs and construction of sanitation units in the school under the Tamil Nadu Flood Response Program

India CSR News Network

CHENNAI: Ingersoll Rand, a world leader in creating comfortable, sustainable and efficient environments in association with Habitat for Humanity, an international non-governmental and nonprofit organization are pleased to report completion and hand over of renovated facility and sanitation unit to authorities of the Corporation Primary School. Corporation Primary School is located on Perumal Koil Street in Taramani, Chennai and is designed to serve over 800 students.

“Ingersoll Rand has a long standing commitment towards providing education, healthcare, sanitation, livelihood and furthering sustainability in the communities that we operate in. Natural calamities and disasters are of major concern as they render the community helpless and as part of our CSR policy, every year, we set aside 10% of our budgets to support and provide relief to such unforeseen emergencies”, shared Geetanjali Bhatia, Leader Corporate Relations and CSR, Ingersoll Rand India.

The school suffered extensive damages during the floods last year and Ingersoll Rand pledged to provide support towards the restoration of the school. The project covered repair of sanitation units of the Primary School including 20 sanitation units and 50 urinals and construction of a Hand wash facility for the children.  The completion of this project was celebrated in a ceremony in Taramani on February 10, 2017 and was attended by school children, teachers, Habitat for Humanity and Ingersoll Rand.

“When we first went to inspect the school after the devastating floods, we saw that the infrastructure of the school was damaged and sanitation system was completely destroyed. Today we are proud that through our small contribution we are able to help 800 school going children regain their confidence and restart life with education, health and hygiene”, added Bhatia.

As an immediate response to the Tamil Nadu floods, Ingersoll Rand provided humanitarian aid and hygiene kits to the flood affected families to improve their living conditions. In the second phase of the relief work, Ingersoll Rand allocated funds for the repair and renovation of facilities of Corporation Primary School. Ingersoll Rand continues to undertake a series of CSR initiatives in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. In 2014-15, Ingersoll Rand supported government led Swachh Bharat mission and built 134 Sanitation interventions in Chennai. Additionally, Ingersoll Rand is supporting Agastya Foundation for setting up Mobile Science Labs (MSL) in Chennai to revolutionize rural education and make hands-on education increasingly accessible.

The Mobile Science Lab initiative has led to 38 school visits leading to 4034 student and 265 teacher exposures in 2015 -2016.

“At Habitat for Humanity India, our vision is to create a world where everyone has a decent place to live. We believe that access to sanitation facilities is a basic human right. Women and girls face shame, a loss of personal dignity and risk their safety if there is no toilet at home. Under its WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene) initiative – aligned with the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) – Habitat has built over 1,40,000 sanitation units for individuals, families, schools and communities with an aim to eliminate open defecation. We have witnessed that building sanitation units in schools results in the reduction of dropout rates especially of girls. Moreover, equipped with the knowledge of hygiene through behavior change communication, children serve as change agents and educate their peers as well as family members. We are thankful to Ingersoll Rand for their valuable contribution that will go a long way in building a better and clean India”, shared Rajan Samuel, Managing Director, Habitat for Humanity India.