IndiaCSR News Network
NEW DELHI: In support with India’s leading FMCG company – Unilever and Domex, IndiaCSR group organized India Sanitation Summit & Awards ‘Sanitation for All – Toilet First’ on Feb 6, 2015 at PHD House, New Delhi, the capital of India. The event was a great success, there were more than 200 delegates in attendance. Summit delegates also included thought leaders, researchers; sanitation and toilet technology providers, business houses fellows of the Academy, government, and industry representatives. Through the Forum, the Academy engaged with EMCRs from multiple disciplines and from around Australia, to exchange ideas about challenges and possible solutions.
Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Founder, Sulabh International Social Service Organization delivered key note address. Organization working on sanitation and toilet building project and innovative technology manufactures were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the society at this global forum.
The forum involved some of the most reputed and competent Indian and International speakers from government and private sectors, research agencies, innovators, social scientists and thought leaders dealing in sanitation and toiletries industries in the country. There were 26 speakers and more than 200 participants joined in this exclusive summit.
Award Ceremony
The India Sanitation Award is given to recognize significant achievements and contributions in the area Sanitation and toilet construction & innovative toilet designs. Sponsored by Domex the Award ceremony was held during the Summit. The individual, corporate and social enterprises were awarded with certificates and trophies. The awardees were appreciated for their contribution to society in the area of sanitation and technology development and advancement. Rusen Kumar, Managing Director of IndiaCSR Group; Chief Guest – HK Patil, Minister for Sanitation &Panchayati Raj, Govt of Karnataka; Matteo Rizzi, Global Expertise & Authority, WASH Household Care, Unilever and Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, Founder Sulabh International handed over the awards.
Company/Individual Awards
1. Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Founder- Sulabh International Social Service: Life Time Achiever Award
2. Hindustan Zinc Limited: Best Sanitation Project
3. Maruti Suzuki India Limited: Out Standing Contribution- Best Sanitation Project Award
4. EnviroLoo- Enviro Options (PTY) LTD: Outstanding Contribution – Innovative Waterless Toilet Technology Award
5. Sahyardri Industries Limited: Innovative Green Toilet Award
6. Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt. Ltd.: Innovative eToilet Product Award
7. Vaichal Constructions Pvt. Ltd., Pune: Innovative Affordable Toilet Design Award
8. Paryavaran Solutions, Pune: Innovative Affordable Toilet Product Award
In the recent months, a need to address the issue of proper sanitation in India has been understood not only by political leaders, govt. institutions, societies, but also by the corporates and organizations like India CSR that are working tirelessly to make societies better. The whole country is associating with the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ launched by the new BJP government led by Honorable Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. To promote this agenda further, India CSR today organized ‘India Sanitation Summit’ at August KrantiBhawan, New Delhi. This Summit was inaugurated by Shri H. K. Patil, Hon’ble Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Govt. of Karnataka in the presence of delegates from various organizations and various govt. institutions.
This summit highlighted the root causes for lack of sanitation facilities and toilets, and how these problems can be addressed by working with a systematic approach at all levels. The summit further strengthened our nation’s resolution to achieve sanitation goals by 2019 by completely eliminating the unhealthy practice of open defecation throughout the country.
This event that turned out to be a big success, not only in India, but at the global level witnessed the participation of many think tank organizations from this field including researchers, social reformers, CSR scions, technology providers, politicians, and bureaucrats too. Many representatives from countries like Germany, Italy, UK, and other countries enthusiastically participated in the first of its kind sanitation focused event, and they were impressed to see the outcome and success of this summit. Speaking during the various sessions organized at the summit, all the prominent speakers who participated in this event invited various sections of the society to come forward to promote healthy sanitation practices across the length and breadth of the country. The organizing group, India CSR, is soon going to organize a series of such events to promote this sanitation campaign at all levels.
The sanitation summit began with the tour to a cartoon exhibition on the theme of ‘Sanitation for All – Toilet First’. This had a significant contribution in giving all the participants a clearer idea about the theme of the summit from an artistic angle. The cartoons were on topics like sanitation, hygiene, toilet, behavior change, woman empowerment etc., and expressed the underlying message in both Hindi as well as English. Cartoons containing different moods such as humor, happiness, and fun certainly cheered up all the guests and participants, and gave the summit a celebrative atmosphere. Organized by India CSR News Network in collaboration with ‘Cartoon Watch’, this cartoon exhibition was first such exhibition on sanitation and toilet in India.
Many prominent speakers actively shared their views during this unique summit, some highlights:
India CSR Group will Organize a Series of Such Summits to Support Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: Rusen Kumar, Managing Director, India CSR Group
Rusen Kumar, Managing Director of IndiaCSR group welcomed the guests, speakers and delegates to the Summit. Beginning with words of gratitude, the organizer of the summit, Rusen Kumar, founder and Managing Director of India CSR started this event with his welcome speech, in which he thanked all the dignitaries, participating organizations, health & sanitation program officials from international organizations, and partners of India CSR for their presence at the summit. He invited them to share their ideas and experiences at this platform.
“The corporate world in India is embarking on a new journey through CSR, and is poised to play an instrumental role as a key change agent in the Swachh Bharat Mission. The tremendous response shown by the corporates towards Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in general, and sanitation in particular is highly commendable and deserves a special note of thanks,” he said.
“India CSR shall organize a series of events to evolve the policy framework, strategic roadmaps, action plans, business best practices, knowledge exchange platforms, and overall a way to transform the Indian economy by overcoming the challenges of sanitation and various allied social challenges,” he further said, affirming the commitment of the India CSR Group. He informed that Next Sanitation summit will be organized at Pune this year.
The Country Must Work Towards Achieving a New Independence from Unhealthy Sanitation Facilities: Dr. Rana Singh, Co-Founder & CEO, India CSR Group
Raising awareness, technological progress, and management are challenging tasks related to success of sanitation mission in India. However, making a strong enough call to bring knowledgeable, skillful, and powerful people together is much harder than it looks. This call to unite various stakeholders together to align them to a central mission of a brighter future of sanitation was initiated by co-founder of India CSR, Dr. Rana Singh, at this summit. Explaining the challenges ahead, Dr. Rana invited different institutions like central government, state governments, and various other stakeholders to come together and break the menace of unavailability of sanitation facilities. He further expressed his gratitude to the PM of India, Narendra Modi for replacing the planning commission with NITI and inviting the internationally reputed economist, Dr. Arvind Panagariya for the post of the Founding Vice Chairman of NITI.
Talking about his positive expectations about the work of NITI, he also gave expert suggestions regarding the function and role of government as leading agent towards the implementation of sanitation facilities. He also spoke about the importance of the role of people, technology, and mass media in reaching sanitation goals, and added, “The government may consider creation of National Sanitation Fund and seek donation from NRIs and other rich and affluent stakeholders of the country.” Concluding his speech, Dr. Rana stated, “The country must work towards achieving a new independence from the menace of lack of sanitation facilities by ensuring sufficient sanitation facilities for everyone, and by focusing on quantitative, qualitative, technological, and financial dimensions of the sanitation problem to transform our nation.”
H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji Appealed to Take the Clean India Mission to the Streets of India
Starting, or rather singing the shloks of Hindu scriptures, H.H. Pujya Swami ChidanandSaraswatiji (Co-Founder of Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, and President of ParmarthNiketan, Rishikesh) nourished the summit with his blessings, and then welcomed everyone.
“We need innovation in our thinking,” he said, and went on to explain the problem in terms of the spiritual depth of human nature, by adding, “Open defecation is open devastation.” A toilet conference may sound amusing, as he pointed out from the questions he had been asked on his way to the forum, but sanitation is salvation, and making toilets is saving humans from a spiritual crisis and from the filth of an unhealthy living environment. Though he is a religious leader, Swamiji put sanitation and toilet construction superior in priority to the performance of religious rituals and other activities saying, “We have worshipped the creator for so long. Let us now take care of the creation.”
Further, he discussed the extreme inconvenience of sanitation for the girls and women, and called it sham, urging everyone to think of the problem as one of paramount importance. His suggestion regarding a solution to the sanitation problem was, “Everyone should think about their own streets and houses, and this way the whole country will be changed, and will be clean.” He also said that India must unite in this effort in the same way as it was united once during the fight for independence.
Not Littering Is Better Than Cleaning: Sunil Ramdas Agrawal,Philanthropist & Patron, India CSR Group started his speech by quoting famous leaders of past and present, like Mahatma Gandhi and the current PM of India, Shri Narendra Modi. He said “We should not just dream or think of other countries who have reached a stage of best sanitation facilities through their efforts, but focus on our India and its problems in sanitation. We can no doubt achieve any goal if we unite and try our best.We should clean, but we should also keep in mind not to litter in the first place “ He went on to praise the attitude of the Indian citizens and said, “The people of India live for the benefits and service of others, rather than their own selves.”
He brought example from his school which he manages, he requested from members of society that every individual small or big in status must have equal access to clean toilets and clean environment. Inviting everyone for unity, Sunil called NGOs, government and other organizations to come forward and contribute in resolving the issue of the day.
Tushar Arun Gandhi Shared His Vision of ‘Real Sustainability’
Tushar Arun Gandhi, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi was appointed President of LokSeva Trust, a voluntary organization for the unemployed former textile mill workers in Central Mumbai. He said, “Bapu believed that there was a need to reform hygiene, sanitary practices, and requirements in Rural India. Unfortunately it remains unchanged today, and rural sanitation does not exist.”
Speaking on the topic of prevailing poverty in rural India, he explained that “A villager who can’t put a square meal on the table cannot afford to buy a disinfectant for the toilet.
India is an agrarian economy, and when the concepts like merger of village sanitation and organic farming will materialize; only then, it will be a model of ‘real’ sustainability” The corporate sector is coming forward to push the sanitation campaign in India. “Corporate are there to make profit, and it should not be considered as a sin. However, for social causes like this, companies should not focus primarily on the profit,” he stated. His suggested model was simple. He advised village workers to educate villagers about hygiene, and the requirements of a clean environment. He pointed out that even today, there are no garbage removal systems in Indian villages, and sewage systems in village environment are non-existent or dysfunctional. He further also pointed out the other existing gaps and holes in the rural India infrastructure that further affects a village’s sanitation challenge.
H. K. Patil, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj,Govt Of Karnataka Inaugurated ‘The India Sanitation Summit’
Chief Guest, H. K. Patil, Honorable Minister for Rural Development & Panchayati Raj of Karnataka proudly shared the achievements of the state of Karnataka as far as sanitation issue is concerned. Karnataka is one of the states that is planning to introduce ‘Right to Sanitation’ which will be a first of its kind initiative throughout India
Achievements of Karnataka in the field of sanitation were mentioned under the action plan called “Shouchalayakkagi Samara”. In end of March of 2013-2014, 5.05 lakh out of 6 lakh toilets have been given to use, and in the ongoing action plan of 2014-2015, 5.18 lakh out of 10 lakh toilets have already been installed and are in use. These and other achievements make Karnataka a leading state in the construction of toilets in the entire nation, as well as the whole world. The brave initiative of making Karnataka state ‘open defecation free’ by 2018 was also proudly announced by Shri Patilji. “Gandhiji’s dream of India is coming to reality in Karnataka, and I feel proud to say so,”he stated at the summit.
H. K. Patil mostly shared his experiences of village life, as he said; he was a village boy once upon a time. He described the sanitation issues from a brighter and clearer angle by giving everyday life examples. The injustice of having two categories of people, the pure water drinkers and the dirty water drinkers, the use of child labor from very poor families, and most importantly the record of data that does not exist in reality were among some of the issues that were mentioned and condemned by the chief guest. He also talked about his govt.’s plan to provide clean drinking water to all, which is currently being monitored by him.
Further, he talked about the creation of bathrooms, which is an issue not yet taken up by the society as a problem. The description of bathroom complexes to be constructed in Karnataka, especially the ones for women, was very inspiring indeed. He added, “Bathroom is more important than toilets.” In the end, he invited the guests and participants to put their best in the realization of these common goals of sanitation, and humbly thanked them all.
Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak Shared the Success Story Behind the ‘Sanitation Gandhi’
During his key note address, Guest of Honor and Founder of Sulabh International Social Service Organization, Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, touched upon a wide range of topics, and shared details of what his organization is doing regarding so many issues that are of social concern. He highlighted the historical significance of freeing a group of people called as scavengers or untouchables from an unhealthy and deplorable work of cleaning human excreta, which they used to do to earn their livelihood, and described their current lifestyle which they were denied earlier.
He said, “The trained erstwhile scavengers develop capability of being gainfully employed and economically self-reliant, thus raising their social status, and enabling them to enter the temples and joining the mainstream of our society.” Dr. Bindeshwar also pointed out the advantages of the two-pit technology for human excreta disposal for environment, and its role in a country’s progress in the area of sanitation. He said “The system has multiple advantages like it improves sanitation, makes available energy, bio-fertilizer and reduces greenhouse effect. These systems are replicable, sustainable, and scalable, considering that Sulabh technologies based facilities of 1.3 million household toilets and nearly 8000 maintained public toilets are being currently used by 15 million people on a daily basis.”
Further, Dr. Pathak reminded the public of the role of Sulabh in taking up the responsibility for welfare of widows at Vrindavan, Varanasi and the region of Deoli BhanigramPanchayat that was devastated by the floods in Uttarakhand in the year 2013. This has assured everyone that now their earlier yearning to die stands replaced with a desire to live. He also shared many stories from the past which led to the promotion of the sanitation campaign in India through this summit.
Bharti Foundation’s CEO, Vijay Chadda Spoke about His Line of Action in Rolling out the Foundation Initiatives at Ludhiana, Punjab
In one of the benchmark decisions taken by the telecommunications giant, Bharti Enterprise’s development arm called Bharti Foundation has pledged to spend Rs. 100 crores to provide toilet facilities in the Ludhiana region of Punjab, over the next three years. The foundation also works on the behavioral aspects of society, considering that an important factor in tackling the sanitation challenge is the understanding of the sanitation problem by people.
Vijay Chadda, Chief Executive Officer of Bharti Foundation actively participated in the summit, and shared the strategy as well as the key factors on which the fund allocation of the sanitation program will be dependent. Bharti Foundation has partnerships with various organizations, such as Sulabh International, Sintex, and Habitat for Humanity for its Satya Bharti Abhiyan. “The project is currently in the implementation stage. The first phase involves construction of 12,000 toilets in the households that lack basic sanitation facilities across the Ludhiana District,” he further added during his address at the summit.
Dr. Jatinder Singh Shared His Valuable Views at the India Sanitation Summit
Dr. Jatinder Singh, Senior Secretary at the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, New Delhi, spoke at the summit with the view that the solution to the sanitation problem lies in the behavioral change of the masses, and change of attitudes towards one’s own living environment and personal hygiene. Washing hands, maintaining hygiene, and prevention of feces contact with individuals lie at the base of the sanitation solution. “Until there is behavioral shift towards hygiene practices, the results of improved water and sanitation infrastructure for community health benefits cannot be achieved,” said Dr. Singh. Speaking of the dangers of the sanitation problem that India faces, Dr. Jatinder accentuated the mortality of children below five years of age due to Diarrhea, 80% of which happens because of poor sanitation facilities. In his opinion, the solution is the continuous training of the masses, interpersonal communication through mass media, and synergy between frontline workers, community leaders and multiple social networks. In this way, long lasting behavioral changes about sanitation and hygiene can be instilled in the minds of people.
Matteo Rizzi, WASH, Unilever Shared How Sanitation and Hygiene Needs Are Directly Linked To the Health and Prosperity of a Nation
Starting with the vision of Gandhiji and connecting it to the Clean India Mission of PM Shri Narendra Modi, Matteo Rizzi (Expertise & Authority Europe & CEF), representative from WASH Household Care, Unilever said, “Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) underpin progress on several areas that directly link to health and prosperity.” Under this as examples he mentioned about education and women empowerment by enabling girls to stay at school, nutrition and health, and most importantly restoring basic human dignity.
He emphasized on the role of private sector in tackling the problem of sanitation, seeing the solution in behavioral change of the masses as such. “Most households across the world have soap (>90% in India), the issue is that people are not using soap to wash their hands,” he noted. With Unilever’s expertise in consumer understanding, Rizzi presented a Five Level Behavior Change Model – make it understood, easy, rewarding, desirable, and a habit that Unilever applies to hygiene contexts to promote new behaviors around toilet use or hand washing. At the end, he urged the audience to act now, in order to achieve Modi’s vision of clean India saying, “We must come together to share our skills, resources, and expertise to achieve greater scale, and at a greater speed
Dr. Gourdas Choudhuri Pointed that ‘Defective Sanitation Facilities Are One of the Unnoticed Causes for Recurring Gastro-Intestinal Infections’
Dr. GourdasChoudhuri, Director and HOD of Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary Sciences at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, gave a detailed speech on the consequences of poor sanitation. Mix-up of drinking and bathing water, entrance of toxins into food chain, and provision of favorable conditions to insects which can accelerate the spread of various gastro-enterological and other diseases are among some of the major consequences of poor sanitation. To fight these issues however, behavioral changes must be inculcated in children’s minds. For this, creation of six movies on various issues connected to sanitation in one way or the other, publishing of book in different languages, and conducting educational sessions, etc. are being implemented.
Speaking further about India, Dr. Choudhuri added, “Indian children are chronically undernourished, not only because of lack of food, but also because of recurring gastro-intestinal infections caused by poor and defective sanitation.” Moreover, he made a direct connection between open defecation and stunting as its result, supporting his argument with statistical data. Dr. Choudhuri also spoke about the financial unavailability of medicines to the inhabitants of slums and other poorly sanitized regions which results in further spreading these diseases up to the point of an epidemic outbreak.
Speaking on the role of individual behaviors in eliminating dangers of poor sanitation, Dr. Choudhuri added, “It is equally important to cultivate toilet etiquette as hygiene oriented and health seeking behavioral practices to ensure the health and welfare of an entire household or community.” The speech was given along with powerpoint presentations, which gave a better picture of the aspects related to the sanitation issue, and the activities in which Dr. Choudhuri has been involved in.
Mark Cawood Shared His Experiences of Working in Various Continents and Dry Sanitation Technology Used By EnviroLoo
One of the speakers at the summit, Mark Cawood, Sales Executive at Enviro Options, South Africa, presented the audience with not only an Eco-friendly sanitation technology, but also a system of sanitation that runs on sun and wind, thus using natural resources, and bringing about enormous economic and environmental benefits. This technology called as ‘Dry Sanitation’ is relevant in urban as well as rural regions. Easy installation, ingenious engineering idea, and a simple concept lies behind the Enviro Loo toilet. Cawood like several other speakers, also spoke of human dignity with regard to sanitation issues, and pressed on the solution saying, “Innovation and technology are central to modern sanitation solutions that are affordable, safe, and sustainable.”
The Enviro Loo, as Cawood said, had been tried and tested over the past twenty years, and today more than 100,000 Enviro Loo units have been successfully installed in more than fifty countries around the globe. It is also important to mention that the technology takes into account the sensitivity of the nature of waste disposal in different cultures while designing the technology for different countries. Lastly he stated that the company does not claim to know the market, but seeks partnership with the government, individual entrepreneurs, and organizations for more efficient work in this sanitation space.
Pumpkart Founder, K.S. Bhatia Shared How One Online Platform Made Access to the Tools Easier
Any goal, including the goal of a better hygiene, is achieved though cooperation of many organizations, institutes, and other elements of a society. In the matter of sanitation, quality pumps play a crucial role as such problems in this sector are interlinked, and originate from one another. Thus, leakage and mix up of the sewage and drinking water, in case of poor quality pumps for example, can be disastrous once a disease breaks out. These words were part of the speech given by K.S. Bhatia, founder and CEO of Pumpkart.
He also gave a presentation on efficient pumps that consume lesser energy and save waste or storm water. This was highly relevant to the topic of the summit. Bhatia stated, “As we are perennially water and power starved country, it calls for energy efficient pumping systems to handle the waste water, effluents generated, as well as the treated water.” The use of completely submersible waste water pumps in majority of the stations has eliminated many site problems that existed in surface mounted pumps. He also spoke about the issue of treated water, suggesting that Digital Dosing pumps are better for precise dosing, and further informed the public that Pumpkart is also working on handling a population who are less informed about the correct handling of liquid and solid wastes.
Use Nanotechnology in Curbing Virus Spread, Shiva Balivada Offered a New Ray of Hope
Another expert speaker, Shiva Balivada came out with innovative solutions to the problem of sanitation. R. Balivada, popularly called as ‘Father of Nanotechnology Applications in India’, is an entrepreneur in Nanotechnology and working in not only in India, but also in UK and USA. He contributes majorly with his experience in product management, product delivery, marketing, and sales to many organizations across the globe. He defined Nanotechnology products as surface protection products that would revolutionize the way we clean and protect our environment. In his view, the technology may offer longer life and sustainability to any product with less efforts and lower maintenance costs, thereby significantly changing the construction, functioning and subsequent maintenance of toilets in the near future.
Furthermore, he introduced the idea of sewage being an undigested food, thus presenting Diatom Algae based sewage treatment as an alternative solution to the conventional high cost and energy intensive sewage treatment systems. “Our solution is an excellent option for sewage treatment in small communities and rural areas,” he added, because it’s less costly and the by-product is a mixture of sludge and algal biomass which is rich in oils, so it can be used as a source of bio fuels and also a good fertilizer for horticulture.
Maximize Impact of CSR Spend Through Collaboration: Avinash Kumar, Director, Program and Policy, WaterAid
“India’s CSR spends need to focus on the impact of spending, rather than simply allocating funds to sectors. Concerted, studied, and long-term measures would definitely improve the country’s poor social indicators. An important example being sanitation, which is not just about building toilets, it is about creating a mindset and culture of hygiene,
It was further shared how companies can provide a boost to such programs by providing expertise and human resource in addition to funds. “Corporates should bring to the table their managerial expertise and gap funding to ensure services are delivered with quality,” he added.
To achieve the ultimate goal of a cleaner and more equitable India, the Prime Minister onIndependence Day called for Indian Corporates to adopt the mission of providing sanitation facilities to the nation. Soon after the PM’s speech, India’s corporates promised to spend big money to clean up India. TCS, Bharti, HUL, Aditya Birla Group, ITC, Adani and Dabur are among major companies that announced big CSR spends or promised to upgrade existing programs for building sanitationfacilities. A total commitment in excess of Rs.1000 crore has been committed.This eagerness towards the cause of sanitation could be attributed to the latest amendment to ScheduleVII of the Companies Act 2013 which brought corporate contributions to the Central Government’sSwachh Bharat Kosh within the purview of CSR activities. Framing a focused CSR program with coherent deliverables is vital.
Any philanthropic cause needs to also be aligned with the corporation’s values and philosophies. However, this is often overlooked by promoters eager to jump on the CSR cause for reasons other than philanthropy. Spending money on any cause is the easy part in a country like India. The real challenge for organizations is in assessing whether their investments are really making a difference to India’s human development indicators or not. India’s CSR spends need to focus on how impact of spending, rather than simply allocating funds to sectors. Concerted, studied and long-term measures would definitely improve the country’s poor social indicators.An important example being; sanitation is not just about building toilets, it is about creating a mindset and culture of hygiene.
The Companies Act has brought out a huge opportunity for the Government, Corporates and the civil society to collaborate to bring about a significant change in the sanitation emergency of the country.Each of the stakeholders has a specific role to play. The Government should work to formulate conducive policies and spend a significant amount towards providing sustainable services. Corporates should bring to the table their managerial expertise and gap funding to ensure services are delivered with quality. Civil society should bring in their community level understanding as well as experience on social issues to ensure transformational change at the ground level. This combination will surely result in accelerated social impact on ground.
Our Group Will Keep the Campaign at the Top of Our Priority List: SarvaMitra Sharma, Advisor, Jagran Group.
Sarva Mitra Sharma, Founder Chairman and Chief Advisor Pehel – The Initiative Group Advisor to the Board of Dainik Jagran, shared devastating statistical data on the impact of poor sanitation in the world and in India. Sarva Mitra particularly pointed out the cause of failure in the implementation of various initiatives to fight poor sanitation and negligence of individuals towards personal hygiene by saying, “Ending open defecation requires changing minds, not just allocating money to building latrines for people that will either go unused, or not be built at all.” Furthermore he noted that government is limiting expenditure on IEC (Information, Education and Communication), a provision under sanitation policy, to 15 % out of which, only 6% is spent till date.
He also added, “Instead of capping the IEC budget, the government should be prioritizing it.” In this regard, Mr. Mitra proudly shared each one of the activities of ‘JagranPahel’ in partnership with the department of PHED, Govt. of Bihar on implementing a large scale advocacy and behavior change campaign across 108 gram panchayats in Bihar which is called “Ganga Action Plan”. He went on to share that the construction of a model community sanitary complex has already been initiated at Nathanagar in Bhagalpur district of Bihar
84% of Rural Households Would Like To Have Toilets: Dr. Huzaifa Khorakiwala, Trustee and CEO, Wockhardt Foundation
Dr. Huzaifa Khorakiwala, Trustee and CEO at Wockhardt Foundation, introduced an absolutely unique and 21st century solution to the problem of sanitation by presenting Bio-Toilet technology. It engaged the participants in question and answers & discussions with Dr. Huzaifa. The technology is based on bacteria that feeds on human waste, and converts it to usable water and gases through anaerobic decomposition. The bacteria was found in Antarctica, which means that the technology can be used in low temperate regions as well, and naturally does not require repeat dosing. He mentioned in his speech, “Bio-Toilets are maintenance free, and do not require any sewage system. They generate colorless, odorless bio-gas and water. They can play an important role in preventable healthcare”
Dr. Huzaifa also made a point that it is a myth to say that Indians prefer defecating in the open for convenience’s sake, and brought up statistical data produced through survey in the impoverished state of Bihar which indicates that 84% of rural households would like to have toilets and that they defecate in open out of necessity. In addition, he mentioned that Wockhardt Foundation in its endeavor to address the sanitation needs of people, has installed more than 200 individual and community bio-toilets in areas where the need has been the greatest.
We have Schools near factories 54 schools Adopted for Toilets for Girl Child: Parveen Kumar Khurana, National Sales Head (Institutions), Roca Bathroom Products
India sanitary ware brand Parryware has plans to build toilets in 54 Schools near its factoriesfor Girl Child.
The initiative is a part of the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) plan and is inspired by the Prime Minister’s ‘Swach Bharat Programme’ that emphasises on the need for better sanitary conditions in the nation with a special focus on toilets in schools.
Parryware will be targeting also schools in cities like Coimbatore, Indore, Erode, Bhiwadi, Sriperumbudur, Pantnagar, Alwar and Ranipet as a part of the initiative to build toilets. Wherever applicable, it will be constructing separate toilets for girls, providing greater comfort and incentive to girls to continue their education.
Parryware had earlier announced the launch of a new low-cost Indian-style toilet Pan which would suit the requirement of the ‘Swach Bharat Programme’.The Prime Minister’s vision of providing sound sanitary conditions to each citizen of the country is laudable. Fortunately, Parryware, as India’s frontrunners in bathroom solutions are in an ideal position to contribute meaningfully to this dream project. We will be using our CSR funds towards building toilets across schools and hopefully restoring the dignity of students so that they don’t have to resort to open defecation,” he added.
He further stated CSR is also in the DNA of Parryware’s parent company, Roca, to provide better sanitation and water access to Indian people.This is also done with Roca NGO, We Are Water, which is carrying out and financing projects in India since many years ago. In India, only 40 percent of the total population has access to toilets. Parryware’sendeavour is a step in fulfilling this vision and providing sound sanitation facilities to students in the country.Parryware, India’s leading manufacturer of bathroom products, originated from EID Parry, is one of the country’s oldest and most reputed business entities.In 2006, it entered into a joint venture with Roca Corporacion, Spain, became a Roca Group subsidiary in 2008 and turned into a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Roca Group in 2011.
New Technologies for Metropolitan, Urban, and Rural Spaces in India is Being Offered By Sahyadri: Satyen Patel, Managing Director, Sahyadri Industries Ltd., Pune
Satyen Patel, Managing Director of Sahyadri Industries, gave a presentation of the well-known Fiber cement roofing sheets and eco-friendly DIY make-shift toilets that can be installed in an hour, and can be setup anywhere, without the need to dig into the ground. It addresses the immediate sanitation requirement of the nation in an extremely affordable way. Under Corporate Social Responsibility of Sahyadri Industries Ltd., it has launched DIY Green Toilet Blocks to join hands with Prime Minister’s Swachh Bharat Mission. SIL had introduced this initiative in rural markets to promote health, hygiene and women safety. Patel said, “SIL offers innovative, specialized, and futuristic products for a fast growing country as ours”
Bridging the gap between international advancement and technological offerings, it is promising to be an answer to the nation’s infrastructure problem that’s posing new challenges and demanding convincing solutions. Armed with a diverse product portfolio, SIL offers new technologies for metropolitan, urban, and rural areas in India, South Asia, Middle East, and African countries. With his concluding words, he thanked all the participants for coming, and once more invited them to join forces in the fight for a cleaner India.
Pooran Chandra Pandey Provided Insights on the Role of Businesses in Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
Pooran Chandra Pandey, Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact Network, India, while speaking at the summit, gave us his insights regarding the role of businesses in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector in the future. UNGCN as Mr. Pandey said was created to support businesses around the world with ten universal principles around human rights, labor, anti corruption, environment and climate change. He added, “UNGCN today is reckoned as world’s largest corporate citizenship and sustainability initiative, and with the Millennium Development Goals getting on a new platform of global development, national initiatives in India find a good peg to align itself with larger goals of the world.” He drew audience’s attention towards fact that the role of businesses remains essential as it promotes association between government, businesses, civil societies, and communities. He also mentioned that with businesses focusing around the supply chain issues, the time is ripe to revise this partnership for scale, efficiency, and escalation.
The Icon of Change, Radheshyam Gomla Brought the Facts from the Ground at the Summit
Technology cannot take us far without good management. Thus, our exemplary manager RadheshyamGomla who served as Sarpanch (Village Leader) at Gomla village of Mahendragarh district of Haryana state spoke about his village, which received award from the President of India and many organizations along with appreciation from the delegates of countries like USA, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Gomla village has also received appreciation from the special delegation from the United Nations and hosted students from Harvard University, UK who came to see the example of the best village. After seeing this village, all visitors have showered praises about this village and its administration. Before Gomla came to this village, the condition here was of utter chaos.
As Radheshyam describes, “Before 2005, alcohol was openly sold in the village through the liquor mafia. The streets were dirty, encroached, rugged, and foul smelling. Open defecation was highly prevalent, and only three or four houses had toilets within their households. Some of the houses had toilets that were lying in disuse due to lack of awareness among the family members about the importance of proper sanitation. Most of the children in the village did not go to school, or were not interested in pursuing education. Farmers were ignorant about new agricultural techniques, which further led to their low income”
Jassim Khan, AGM, Eram Scientific Solutions Shared His View on E-Toilets, And His Organization’s Collaboration with International Organizations in the Sanitation Field
Implementation of a project is a tiring task, but maintenance of its outcome is even more challenging. Shedding light on this aspect of sanitation projects, Anwar Sadath, CEO of Eram Scientific Solutions, discussed in details about the sustainability of sanitation infrastructure. Talking about the standards of sanitation practices which differ from culture to culture, Anwar stated, “Eram is currently engaged with IDEO.org in synthesizing user expectations with a technologically robust eToilet.”
Clean and hygienic E-Toilets, safe disposal and treatment of waste, and construction of user-friendly toilets which would catalyze sustainable sanitation practices were the key points of his speech. He also didn’t fail to share some of the future plans of the company by saying, “ Eram is currently collaborating with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other international institutions to develop better and sustainable waste water treatment usage facility.” Across 14 states of India, e-Toilets have been installed already. Last but not least, his topic focused on developmental intervention which he said aims at revival of policies and initiatives at local, national, regional, and international levels that would support the most marginalized people and communities to provide them with better quality access to improved sanitation.
Prof.Kishor Munshi Shared His Company’s Point of View on Technology
Professor Kishor Munshi, Founder Director, C Tech Labs Pvt. Ltd., a joint venture with IIT Bombay and our next speaker once more highlighted the problems that lack of sanitation and toilets bring about in the society, and pointed out the disadvantages of the conventional flush water toilets. “There is a need to design and develop simple and safe sanitation system, which are effective and contextually appropriate,” he said. He proudly presented ‘The Dry Sanitation System’, an invention of his own, produced and developed through research and subsequent testing. He clarified that the proposed design consists of toilet pan, shelter unit, and pits arrangement for waste decomposition. The system is comfortable for all age groups and users with a special heel support for elderly, and has a unique feature of separating water and urine from the solids which is essential for the process of aerobic decomposition which has a further advantage of eliminating strong odor of human excreta. Development of manure from human excreta after eight months in urine pit adds to his technology’s special advantages.
How Industry Will Respond To the Challenge of Sanitation in the Country: Sandeep Dave, Director, Marketing, Neptune Industries Limited
The next speaker at the event was Sandeep Dave, Director of Marketing, Neptune Industries Limited. “A simple calculation, estimation, or say a guesstimate has confirmed that in times to come, approximately 100 million toilets are to be built within an aggressive time line of 5 years. This means that at least 20 million or more sanitary ware pieces will be required per year,” said Mr. Dave sharing the upcoming demand trends, and its challenges to build the planned number of toilets.
Stating the Industry outlook on the upcoming challenge, he said, “To handle this situation, and build the capacity for the same, I understand the only answer is Technology, an appropriate and fast implementable technical solution. This special assignment is need based, and not fancy, hence the requirement in terms of types and designs are very simple, and production is required in masses.”
Chief Guest
H K Patil, Hon’ble Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (RDPR), Govt. of Karnataka will be chief guest of the summit and he will inaugurate the summit.
Speakers at Summit
Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Founder, Sulabh International Social Service Organisation
Tushar A Gandhi, (Great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi Ji), Managing Trustee Mahatma Gandhi Foundation
Matteo Rizzi, Global Expertise & Authority, WASH Household Care, Unilever, UK
Dr HuzaifaKhorakiwala, Trustee and CEO, Wockhardt Foundation, Wockhardt Ltd
Pau Abello, Managing Director, Roca Bathroom Products Private Limited
Mark Cawood, Sales Executive, Enviro Options (Pty) Ltd., South Africa
Satyen Patel, Managing Director, Sahyadri Industries Ltd, Pune
Dr Rana Singh, Co-Founder, IndiaCSR Group
Rusen Kumar, Founder and Director, INDIACSR Group
Prof. Kishor Munshi, Professor & Former Head of Industrial Design Centre, IIT, Bombay (Founder Director, C Tech Labs Pvt. Ltd. a joint venture with IIT Bombay)
Ranjit Singh, General Manager (CSR & Sustainability), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.
Pooran Chandra Pandey, Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact Network India
SarvaMitra Sharma, Founder Chairman and Chief Advisory ,Pehel (The Initiative Group Advisor to the Board of DainikJagran)
K.S. Bhatia, Founder and CEO, Pumpkart.com (India’s Largest Online Pump Store)
Neeraj Jain, Chief Executive Officer, WaterAid in India
Shiva Balivada, Popularly called ‘Father of Nanotechnology Applications in India’
Dr GourdasChoudhuri, Director and HOD-Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary Sciences, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon
Dr Jatinder Singh, Sr. Secretary- CSR, Innovation, Education & Skill Development, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Vijay Chaddha, Chief Executive Officer, Bharti Foundation, Bharti Enterprises
Sandeep Dave, Director – Marketing, Neptune Industries Limited
Sunil Ramdas Agrawal, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist, Mentor-IndiaCSR Group
AnvarSadath, CEO, Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt Ltd (Producer of etoilet)
RadheshyamGomla, Former Sarpanch, Trainer of stockholders of Panchayat Raj Institutions, Social Worker
Dr Sanjay Kumar Singh, Associate Professor & Head, Department of Humanities, OPJIT, Raigarh
About The Organizers – India CSR Group
India CSR (www.indiacsr.in) is the only biggest CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) news portal in India. It is one of the leading and only Indian business networks for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which is dedicated to making significant contributions by adding new dimensions and perspectives to the domain of CSR and Sustainability in India.
India CSR has successfully created a unique platform that enables companies to share ideas on their best CSR practices, and encourages collaborative projects between organizations and its end stakeholders. India CSR provides a unique and active forum to initiate dialogues on creating a competitive edge with the help of CSR activities. It seeks help from various industry experts in its endeavor to bring news that matter from the Indian CSR arena.
The India CSR website portal has been founded by stalwarts from the industry, and it is growing steadily to become an inspiring network of professionals working towards the common goal of sustainability in India. Our mission is to support practitioners and organizations in building responsible and sustainable businesses in India, and in this way contribute to the overall sustainable development of societies at large.