NEW DELHI: Honeywell said that that its not-for-profit entity Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation (HHSIF) has received the India CSR Award for its safe drinking water program in Telangana.
The award was presented to Honeywell at the annual India CSR Leadership Summit & Awards in New Delhi, which honors outstanding and innovative CSR, sustainability and social enterprise projects.
The award was given away by Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, Author, Thinker, Secretary General, Indian Steel Association and Former DG & CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs and Rusen Kumar, Founder and Managing Editor of India CSR Network.
Honeywell is funding 130 safe water stations in Telangana via its not-for-profit partner Safe Water Network. These stations provide access to safe drinking water for 420,000 people in areas that suffer from groundwater contamination due to factors such as salinity, nitrates and fluorides. Fluoride contamination can cause skeletal fluorosis, stunting and teeth mottling among youth, and spinal bending, joint pain and difficulty in mobility among the elderly.
“Together with Honeywell, we are converting the traditional mindset and centuries-old behavior of treating water as a freely available resource,” said Ravi Sewak, Country Director, Safe Water Network India. “Communities are accessing safe water conveniently from water ATMs (similar to automated teller machines) using their precharged radio-frequency indentification (RFID) cards. Now, we see more men collecting water instead of women who traditionally had to walk miles to fetch and carry water to their homes. We are poised to replicate and scale this model in other clusters.”
“We are honored to receive this prestigious recognition. This initiative is one of our flagship CSR programs that is transforming health, increasing productivity and improving the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in the state – all of which are the imperatives that help drive the Prime Minister’s ‘ease of living’ vision,” said Vikas Chadha, President, Honeywell India.
“Honeywell is committed to improving the world we live in by creating, supporting and nurturing outstanding CSR programs that make real, sustainable and measurable impact on the communities that Honeywell serves,” Chadha added.
Through this award-winning program, Honeywell and Safe Water Network set up locally-owned and operated safe water stations that deliver safe, affordable, and reliable water adhering to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS-10500) for potable water quality to those in need. Community engagement is key to promoting safe water adoption, which begins with door-to-door consumer outreach. Local stakeholders are mobilized to ensure people understand that investing in safe water will help reduce healthcare expenses and increase productivity.
Over the last two years, Safe Water Network and Honeywell India have already set up more than 100 safe water stations across the Karimnagar, Adilabad, Warangal Rural, Warangal Urban, Jayashankar, Mahabubabad, Jagtiyal, Peddapalli, Badradri, Mancherial, Suryapet, Khammam, Medak, and Nalgonda districts.
Safe Water Network is advancing the potential for small water enterprises to ensure millions gain access to the most essential of needs: safe water. Working in hundreds of communities in Ghana and India, we are demonstrating the affordability, effectiveness, and sustainability of the enterprise approach. With a commitment to operational excellence and local capacity-building, we are developing the tools and resources needed to overcome an unacceptable failure rate typical of developing world water systems. Working with government agencies and large implementers, we are expanding this approach to improve the health and livelihoods of millions of people in need of safe water.
Honeywell India is committed to improving the world we live in by creating, supporting, and nurturing outstanding corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs and initiatives that make real, sustainable, and measurable impact on communities that Honeywell serves. Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation (HHSIF) is a not-for-profit organization that deploys Honeywell India’s CSR efforts in five critical areas: Science and math education; Family safety and security; Housing and shelter; Sustainability; and Humanitarian relief. Working within the government’s guidelines and the company’s CSR framework, HHSIF builds programs that deliver results it can quantify: one community, one home, one teacher, and one student at a time.
