By Rusen Kumar
The recently concluded India sanitation summit brought to light various factors, dimensions and perspectives to be considered to battle the challenges in the domain area of sanitation.The summit was a grand success which witnessed the contributions from various eminent experts from India and abroad who shared their views, ideas and suggestions to improve the sanitation infrastructure and facilities in India.
One of the most important dimensions discussed in the summit was the fact that the government, corporates, NGOs and the people should come together and work on collaborative frameworks, plans and strategies.
The summit was inaugurated by Shri. HK Patil, Hon’ble Minister for rural development and panchayati Raj for government of Karnataka who shared his thoughts ans success story of relentless efforts in improving the quality of sanitation facilities in urban, semiurban and rural areas of Karnataka in the recent past and shared his plans and strategies to overcome the menace of sanitation challenges in general and Karnataka in particular.
The summit also focused on awarding the individuals and organization recognizing their pioneering works of excellence in the domain area of of sanitation. Shri. Bindeshwar Pathak was conferred lifetime achievement award for his outstanding contributions in the domain area of sanitation.Various other organizations were conferred Excellence Awards in recognition of their outstanding contributions.
The India CSR team shared its strong commitment to conduct series of events to sensitize the relevant stakeholders of the country to bring them together at a common platform to contribute to the growth plans of the sanitation sector in the Indian economy.The announcement made by Unilever group to spend 700 million in India to improve the quality of sanitation received a warm welcome from all the participants of sanitation summit.
The experts from different areas gave their expert advice and suggestions to focus on various dimensions including planning, implementation and control, financial modelling as well as adoption of new technology products and services to provide cost-effective sanitation facilities to different parts of India including the rural areas.
The India Sanitation Summit – Toilet first brought to light various challenges and problems which are being faced by the sanitation sector in India. The eminent experts from India and abroad discussed and deliberated on the various solutions and recommendations for the sanitation sector which can be adopted by people, NGOs, governments and other stakeholders including the corporate world to overcome the challenges and menace of suboptimal availability of sanitation facilities in India.
In continuation to the spirit of contributing to the “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” announced by the honourable Prime Minister, India CSR group has announced to hold a summit at Pune in the name of Maharashtra Sanitation Summit.
The summit shall continue to discuss, deliberate and evolve new strategies to overcome the challenges and menace of sanitation problems in India with special reference and perspective to Pune and Maharashtra Region. The Maharashtra sanitation summit has been receiving tremendous response from various stakeholders from India and abroad including the local government.
I am glad to announce that the Global Chamber of Commerce has been gladly accepted to be a part of Global Sanitation Summit, Pune.
To conclude, it would be apt to mention that sanitation facilities with optimal focus on toilets and bathrooms for both genders, in rural, semi urban and urban areas requires and deserves optimal attention at all levels.
(Rusen Kumar is Editor & MD of IndiaCSR Group. He can be reached at editor@indiacsrnetwork.com)
