Corporate Sector involvement in Sanitation – A CII Report

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Corporate sector involvement
in
Sanitation

Corporate sector involvement
in
Sanitation

Copyright © 2013 by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), All rights reserved.
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Introduction1. 1
Adani Foundation Experience:2.
Rural Sanitation Project 7
Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and3.
Rural Development 13
Ambuja Cement Foundation (ACF)4. 17
Asahi India Glass Ltd.5. 20
Biocon Foundation : Sanitation Hygiene6. 23
Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited’s7.
Role on Sanitation in Surrounding Villages 26
GMR Varalakshmi Foundation’s work in the area of8.
Sanitation: Towards Setting Standards 29
Infosys Foundation Initiative in the Area of9.
Sanitation in North Karnataka 34
Jankidevi Bajaj Gram Vikas Sanstha10. 40
K K NAG LIMITED – LOW COST SANITATION SOLUTIONS 4411.
Suzlon Foundation –12. Sanitation programs 47
Tata Motors’ initiatives for Ensuring Drinking Water13.
and Promoting Sanitation in Villages 53
Tata Power –14. Community Development Project 57
TATA Steel’s involvement in Total Sanitation Campaign15. 60
TVS Electronics’ Corporate Partnership in Sanitation16. 63
USHA MARTIN GRoup: Clean Environment for Healthy Living17. 69
CONTENTS

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Introduction
Introduction
Context
India, a country with one of the oldest civilisations of the world
had the concept of sanitation from Indus valley days. Excavations
at Harappa and Mohenjadaro sites show evidence that even in
ancient India, the practice of using toilets was prevalent and even
community toilets and proper drainage systems were present.
Yet so many centuries later, it is a paradoxical reality that the
country is grappling with the problems of open defecation and
access to sanitation facilities. Sanitation, in today’s parlance,
is a comprehensive concept which includes waste disposal,
environmental, domestic, personal and food hygiene. It is one of
the basic determinants of quality of life and human development
index. Good sanitary measures and proper utilisation of the
facilities is an important component of healthy living including
reduction of morbidity and mortality and prevention of water and
soil pollution. Lack of clean drinking water, improper disposal of
waste and human excreta, improper environmental sanitation and
lack of personal and food hygiene - all of this has direct adverse
impact on health, quality of life and economic and social well
being. A number of innovative and successful approaches have
increased access to sanitation. However, much more needs to
be done to scale-up and sustain these efforts.

Corporate Sector’s Involement in Sanitation
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The United Nations Millennium Declaration envisages the central
role of water and sanitation in sustainable development and
poverty alleviation. From this perspective, enhanced health and
socio-economic benefits of safe water and sanitation are the
most compelling arguments to support resource allocations
towards this goal.
Indian Scenario
In India, diseases associated with impure water and inadequate/
nonexistent sanitation still have considerable public health
significance. The latest estimates link unsafe drinking water,
inadequate availability of water for hygiene, and lack of access to
sanitation with about 88% (1.5 million) of deaths from diarrheal
diseases (including cholera, typhoid and dysentery) in children
younger than 5 years of age. Asia records the majority of deaths
on account of poor hygiene and sanitation, with 90% mortality
in the population between zero and five years. More than half
of such deaths occur in India.
Poor hygiene, lack of sanitation and unhealthy personal habits
borne out of ignorance add to the woes of the poor, undermining
their immunity and exposing them to illness. Studies have shown
that better sanitation can reduce diarrheal deaths by up to 32%
and hygiene campaigns such as promoting hand-washing can
reduce diarrhea-induced mortality by up to 45%. However, mere
provision of facilities or creation of infrastructure facilities does
not suffice in making sanitation either a sustainable process or
to achieve the desired impact. It is important to make the end
users realize the importance of why they need to use sanitation
services and make them stakeholders in the true sense.

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Introduction
Government’s Programmes and Schemes
Government have undertaken several measures to address the
issue of sanitation. Central Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP)
was launched in 1986 primarily with the objective of improving
the quality of life of rural people and also provide privacy and
dignity to women. This was improved in a new format, where
CRSP moved towards a “demand driven” approach.
The Programme is being implemented with focus on community-
led and people centered initiatives. Children play an important
role in absorbing and popularizing new ideas and concepts. This
Programme, therefore, intends to tap their potential as the most
persuasive advocates of good sanitation practices in their own
households and in schools.
About Total Sanitation Campaign1
The concept of sanitation was expanded to include personal
hygiene, home sanitation, safe water, garbage disposal, excreta
disposal and waste water disposal. With this broader concept of
sanitation, CRSP adopted a “demand driven” approach with the
name “Total Sanitation Campaign” (TSC) with effect from 1999.
The revised approach emphasized more on Information, Education
and Communication (IEC), Human Resource Development,
Capacity Development activities to increase awareness among the
rural people and generation of demand for sanitary facilities. This
enhanced people’s capacity to choose appropriate options through
alternate delivery mechanisms as per their economic condition.
The Programme was implemented with focus on community-led
and people centered initiatives. Financial incentives were provided
1 http://ddws.gov.in/tsc_index.htm

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to Below Poverty Line (BPL) households for construction and
usage of individual household latrines (IHHL) in recognition of
their achievements. Assistance was also extended for construction
of school toilet units, Anganwadi toilets and Community Sanitary
Complexes (CSC) apart from undertaking activities under Solid
and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM).
To give a fillip to the TSC, Government of India also launched
the Nirmal Gram Puraskar (NGP) that sought to recognise
the achievements and efforts made in ensuring full sanitation
coverage. The award gained immense popularity and contributed
effectively in bringing about a movement in the community for
attaining the Nirmal Status thereby significantly adding to the
achievements made for increasing the sanitation coverage in the
rural areas of the country.
Encouraged by the success of NGP, the TSC is being renamed as
“Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan” (NBA). The objective is to accelerate the
sanitation coverage in the rural areas so as to comprehensively
cover the rural community through renewed strategies and
saturation approach. Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) envisages
covering the entire community for saturated outcomes with a view
to create Nirmal Gram Panchayats with following priorities:
Provision of Individual Household Latrine (IHHL) of both Below•
Poverty Line (BPL) and Identified Above Poverty Line (APL)
households within a Gram Panchayat (GP).
Gram Panchayats where all habitations have access to water•
to be taken up. Priority may be given to Gram Panchayats
having functional piped water supply.
Provision of sanitation facilities in Government Schools and•
Anganwadis in Government buildings within these GPs.

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Introduction
Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) for proposed•
and existing Nirmal Grams.
Extensive capacity building of the stake holders like Panchayati•
Raj Institutions (PRIs), Village Water and Sanitation Committees
(VWSCs) and field functionaries for sustainable sanitation.
Appropriate convergence with MNREGS with unskilled man-•
days and skilled man-days.
OBJECTIVES:
The main objectives of the NBA are as under:
Bring about an improvement in the general quality of life in•
the rural areas.
Accelerate sanitation coverage in rural areas to achieve the•
vision of Nirmal Bharat by 2022 with all gram Panchayats in
the country attaining Nirmal status.
Motivate communities and Panchayati Raj Institutions•
promoting sustainable sanitation facilities through awareness
creation and health education.
To cover the remaining schools not covered under Sarva•
Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Anganwadi Centres in the rural
areas with proper sanitation facilities and undertake proactive
promotion of hygiene education and sanitary habits among
students.
Encourage cost effective and appropriate technologies for•
ecologically safe and sustainable sanitation.
Develop community managed environmental sanitation•
systems focusing on solid liquid waste management for
overall cleanliness in the rural areas.

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Rationale for involving Corporate Sector in
Sanitation
Improving water and sanitation service delivery to the poor is
a key factor in reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). Apart from the Government,
coordinated efforts from all sections of society are needed to
achieve the MDGs. The corporate sector is well suited to service
the poor because of their knowledge and understanding of the
needs of their communities. Moreover, since ‘Health’ is one of the
top priority activities under the wider umbrella of Corporate Social
Responsibility or CSR activities; sanitation - one of the primary
factors affecting the overall well being of people – demands
a greater focus. These resources pooled for building a healthy
society also translates into better socio-economic prospects for
future. With this background, CII brings to you a compendium
of case studies, each describing how corporate sector has
contributed in providing sanitation services and improving health
of people. CII hopes that more and more of its members would
engage in arranging sanitation facilities for the benefit of people
of the country.

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Adani Foundation Experience: Rural Sanitation Project
Adani Foundation
Experience: Rural
Sanitation Project
The Adani Foundation, setup by Adani Group, played a pivotal role
in bringing about Sustainable Development in and around their
area of operations. It has been present and rendering its services
in the area of Rural Development since 1996. Rural sanitation is
perhaps one of their most integral fields of operation. It however,
isn’t the only one with education, community health, sustainable
livelihood development, and rural infrastructure all being important
areas of Core Community Development Project.
As the root cause of health problems lies in poor sanitation
practices, a movement to create awareness, motivates communities
to accept the general concept of household sanitation unit and
encourage people to get the same facilities has been the mission.
The Foundation has aided six villages in getting 100 % household
toilet coverage status by supporting the construction of more
than 700 toilets during the 2008-2009 time period. The target
for the year 2009-2010 was to cover 19 more villages with the
same sanitary set up which required the construction of more
than 1500 individual toilets in these areas with proper sewage

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systems. From 2008 to March 2012, the Foundation was able
reach to 3643 Households in 26 villages. They also encourage
and prepare villages for the “Nirmal Gam Puraskar”.
Under Rural Infrastructure Development activities, they have
implemented Rural Underground Drainage System in 16 villages
with partial financial support from WASMO and approximately
8-10 % contribution from beneficiaries. A Sewer Water Treatment
Plant is a major focal point for this entire project. This plant will
not only keep the surrounding areas clean but also raise the
general sanitation level of villages as well. Treated water will be
utilized either in irrigation or for tree plantation.
Process:
The Motivation Drive:• This phase is very critical in the
entire process. People from a cross section of age groups
are dealt with separately and when the need arises,
together as well. Children are given an opportunity to
discuss hygiene and sanitation standards for their own
village through elocution and essay competitions. They
participate in cleanliness rallies and basically act as a
pressure group against people who let sewage flow in the
village streets. Meanwhile, the women are encouraged
to think beyond their routine household activities and
helplessness about attending nature’s calls. Youth groups
are encouraged to bring about change. Adults are explained
about how much trouble the elderly and women suffer
by not having a toilet in the house and how unnecessary
medical expenses can be saved in the process. Village
institutions such as panchayats, self help groups, youth
groups, religious groups are informed about the Nirmal
Gram parameters.

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After these informal and indirect motivational drives, matla
meets, mohalla meets and Gram Sabhas are organized
to gather a consensus on all the houses that have and/or
intend to have individual toilets.The entire price breakdown
is explained while taking into account various low cost
toilet designs, the Government incentive amount under
Total Sanitation Campaign, Adani Foundation support and
individual contribution.
Listing and verification:• Each maholla prepares its list of
houses not having a toilet. The list is verified by village
leaders and the Gram Panchayat along with the Foundation
staff and volunteer’s who visit each house.
Material Distribution and Coordination with the•
Government Offices: The Total Sanitation Campaign is a
national movement. It involves active participation from all
concerned including District Rural Development Agency
(DRDA) to the Taluka Panchayat to the Village Sukhakari
Samiti and finally, direct support to the beneficiary. The
Foundation had involved a DRDA consultant during the
motivation drive phase as well. The Foundation staff helps
to coordinate various issues and protocol with the Taluka
Panchayat for the timely payment of incentive money
to the beneficiaries. The Foundation also provides these
beneficiaries/families with two bags of cement, a door

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and ventilation. It also tries to facilitate Toilet pan kit from
WASMO otherwise provide that too. Here local participation
is sought at every step.
Objective, Flexible and Practical approach for Support:•
Following a democratic process, if we come across some
households needing more or at times less support, a flexible
approach is adopted. For example, if a house already has
a constructed toilet but are in need of a door and perhaps
ventilation, then only those items would be provided. It is,
essentially need based assistance. In case of very poor
family/ widow/ person with disability, full support and extra
support to build an accessible toilet is extended too.
EncourageVillages to prepare for Nirmal Gam Puraskar:•
All the parameters are explained and help is extended to
achieve the goals, all through Social Mobilization.
Touching Lives:
Ratanben Aahir came to village Wanki 30 years ago•
following her wedding to a village man. Her house did not
have toilet. She found herself facing more difficult odds
and problems when
her husband got into
an accident and as
a result was partially
disabled. As a result,
she was forced to
dispose of his excreta
everyday by walking to
a nearby dump which
was in plain view. Now

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with a toilet in the house one could see tears of happiness
and relief in her eyes.
Courage was always a virtue of Mahendra Sinhji Jadeja•
(fondly known as Rajubhai). He always believed in fulfilling
every task he undertook, with courage and conviction. But
the year 2006 brought in a disaster for him.
He met with a horrendous accident which resulted in a
grave injury to the spinal cord. Even though he was treated
successfully for the injury he was unable to walk and had
to be dependent on a wheelchair for moving from one
place to another. But he faced serious problem when it
came to relieving himself every morning.
Adani Foundation took a decision to construct a Handicap
Friendly toilet at Rajubhai’s residence. The decision proved
to be a blessing for Rajubhai and his family, who were
visibly relieved.

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Learnings:
Rural Sanitation is a very crucial aspect that our nation•
needs to address for not only creating a healthy society but
bring about sensitivity and equality to gender issues.
One has to be patient and should neither try hasten Social•
Mobilization Process nor go for short cuts.
The coordination with Government schemes made•
implementation more result oriented.
Open defecation is a very complex and a major issue.•
One should work towards eradicating, however small the
effort it may be. Every baby step reduces the distance to
reach to our common goal!

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Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development
Aditya Birla Centre for
Community Initiatives
and Rural Development
For over 50 years now, the Aditya Birla Group have been and
continue to be involved in meaningful, welfare driven initiatives that
distinctively impact the quality of life of the rural poor. The vision
is to actively contribute to the social and economic development
of the communities in which we operate, in so doing build better
sustainable way of life for the weaker sections of the society
and raise the country’s human development index.
Our footprint
The footprint of our community work straddles 2,500 villages.
In working with the communities, they gauge what their real
needs are.
Of the 2,500 villages that, we are engaged in, we have zeroed
in on 300 villages, which we hope to morph into model
villages. Making of a Model Village entails ensuring self-reliance
in all aspects viz., education, healthcare and family welfare,
infrastructure, agriculture and watershed management, and

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working towards sustainable livelihood patterns. Fundamentally,
ensuring that their development reaches a stage wherein village
committees take over the complete responsibility and the teams
become dispensable. It is against this backdrop that one will
dwell on the Group’s experience in sanitation.
Water – the life force, integral to Sanitation
The Foundation has been providing water on a continual basis
to the villages that are in proximity to their Plants. But this is
for their basic needs. With water scarcity, open spaces seemed
perhaps the only option to the villagers. Hence to tackle the
issues related to sanitation, we had to first grapple with the
challenge of tapping new avenues of water.
For this, the Foundation evolved a multi – pronged strategy
based on an integral development plan. Various schemes of the
Government viz., Swajaldhara Yojana, Jalnidhi, Rajeev Gandhi
National Drinking Water Scheme, and many more were used and
these schemes enabled them to extend their reach as catalysts
benefitting thousand of villagers.
Changing Mindsets
The second plank of our strategy entailed a massive awareness
drive on cleanliness linking it with hygiene and sanitation. District
Authorities and NGOs were roped in this endeavour to sensitize
and persuade the villagers.
The Foundation recoursed to ‘Nukkad Nataks” (street level plays)
and puppet shows to drive messages linking hygiene and good
health to sanitation. It was highlighted how they could prevent
water borne and sanitation diseases from occurring and spreading,
if we were able to have toilets blocks in the villages.

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Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development
Energizing the Villagers
The fourth plank was to get this movement rushing amongst the
villagers. In the village of Devari (Renukoot, Uttar Pradesh), the
campaign was started in a creative way. Using the platform of
the Panchayat General Meeting, the Foundation began energizing
the villagers by highlighting how Devari can be positioned on
the map of UP, if it received the President’s Award under the
Nirmal Gram Yojana. The thought of acquiring this fame was a
great booster. This did help, and a year down the line, the Devari
Pradhan did receive this Award.
Towards good hygiene
Of the 300 model villages that the Foundation is engaged in, 60
have already reached the level of model villages and most of these
have reasonable sanitation facilities. Of these – Hiple Station in
Maharashtra; Balanivav, Kagvadar, Asarma, Balota in Gujarat; Ilav in
Bharuch; Malkhed and Dandoti in Karnataka; Nayan andTakrawda in
Nagda – MP,; Sawa, Naadsar and Arniyapan Panchayat in Rajasthan;
Kesarpura, Damodarpura, Khor in Madhya Pradesh; Devari and
Parasi in Sonebhadra District in Renukoot, Uttar Pradesh; Bagru
in Lohardaga - Jharkhand; Naickerpalayam, Chitteri, Thandalam,
Parithiputhur, Papamkuppam and Echankadu (Gummidipondi), Tamil
Nadu, have attained 100% sanitation. In fact the Government of
Tamil Nadu on their website has commended our Carbon Black
Plant – Hi-Tech Carbon at Gummidipondi for its work in this domain
(Reference –Total Sanitation Campaign,Tiruvallur District,Tamil Nadu
State, construction of Toilets through Corporate Sectors – Success
Story). They have showcased the Group as a case study.
In the last 5 years, the Foundation has set up over 10,000 toilets
in villages in proximity to the company’s plants across India. These
include community complexes and at several schools as well. In

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doing so, we have helped provide sanitation facilities to nearly a
million people in the villages that we work in, through collaborations
and in an inclusive manner. But this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Given the magnitude of our country and its complexities; much
more needs to be done. We owe this to our people, to the nation
and to ourselves. Together we can make it happen.

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Ambuja Cement Foundation (ACF)
Ambuja Cement
Foundation (ACF)
Introduction
Ambuja Cement Foundation (ACF) is the corporate Foundation of
Ambuja Cements Limited. It has been working for improvement of
quality of lives of the communities around Ambuja’s manufacturing
facilities since 1993. The Foundation today reaches out to a
population of over 1.5 million people living in around 770 villages
across 10 States of the country. The integrated development
programme of the Foundation focuses mainly on Agro-based
livelihoods, Natural Resources Management and Human
Development.
A principal facet of human development is health. Health is a
state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and
not merely the absence of disease. We need to go a long way
to achieve that as we are still trying to cope with the massive
incidence of disease in our country. However, if closely viewed,
most of the diseases are not only preventive, but also are linked
to the poor environmental sanitation.

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Having realized that, we have sanitation as a key programme
component in our Public Health Programme and have been
attempting to deal with it in the following manner:
1. Through construction of individual house-hold toilets: A
survey of our programme area reveals that like in most parts
of India, the community at large in our programme area
also defecates in the open. Since this is a potential health
hazard, the practice needs to be stopped. With an objective
to make our villages open defecation free, ACF not only
communicates with the communities for behavioural change
but also supports them, both technically and financially, for
construction of low cost toilets. So far, over 3700 individual
house-holds have been supported for construction of low-
cost toilets through our programme.
2. Another major stakeholder in our programme is the Truckers,
who happen to be a significant constituent of the supply
chain. It, thus, becomes our responsibility to take care of their
conveniences at the halting points in and around Ambuja’s
facilities. We, thus, have made every effort to construct and
provide washrooms at most of our locations for the Truckers
where they bathe, wash and use toilet facilities. One of
the recent programmes was to set-up a complex in Ropar
in Punjab and Rabriyawas in Rajasthan in partnership with
Sulabh International.
3. Leveraging on the skills that ACF has developed to work on
the sanitation issues, it has also been engaged by the State
Government of Himachal Pradesh to act as a support agency
in the centrally funded Total Sanitation campaign in District
Solan. ACF undertook an intensive Information, Education
and Communication campaign in the programme area. As
a result of that, 5 Gram Panchayats were recommended

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Ambuja Cement Foundation (ACF)
by the State Government for Nirmal Gram Puraskar to
Government of India. Another 5 villages in Punjab were also
recommended for this award after ACF’s intervention. Similar
recommendations have been made from our programme
area in Maharashtra also.
ACF recognises sanitation as a critical indicator of quality of
life and thus would continue to make serious efforts to help
communities improve personal and environmental sanitation.

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Asahi India Glass Ltd.
Introduction
Asahi India Glass Ltd is the largest glass company in India,
manufacturing a wide range of international quality automotive
safety glass, float glass and architectural processed glass. From
being the largest manufacturer of automotive and float glass in
the country, Asahi India Glass Ltd is on its way to becoming an
innovative pioneer in glass solutions. AIS is now moving up the
exciting value chain of glass by providing design, products and
services that make glass more versatile and more user friendly.
In the year 2004, the diverse development initiatives were
brought under a common umbrella of the Integrated Community
Development Programme (ICDP), designed, administered, and
monitored by Youthreach, a Delhi based NGO. The enunciated
goal of the Integrated Community Development Programme was
to enhance the quality of life in the community, by providing
services and enabling community participation and leadership
to mobilize government, community and all other resources that
are critical to achieving this.
The ICDP institutionalizes the CSR philosophy of Asahi India
Glass Ltd, and adheres to the following parameters.
• Programme implementation involves the community at every
stage; the community is seen not as a recipient, but as a

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Asahi India Glass Ltd.
partner to the entire process of furthering change.
• Solutions to problems are evolved in a bottom-up manner, tapping
the community’s reservoir of indigenous knowledge.
• Efforts are made to revive indigenous knowledge and to
leverage it for greater impact.
• While quantitative indicators are important in analyzing results,
long term process changes are often captured in qualitative
indicators, that are reflected through interviews with village
elders, and other stakeholders in the community.
Water Sanitation
The Water and Sanitation interventions in 110 villages of Rewari
district, seeks to promote sustainable water management systems
by village communities especially women through participatory
initiatives in rainwater harvesting, recycling or managing waste
water and water saving cropping patterns.
The interventions under water and sanitation included activities
like organizing women into sangathans and building their capacity
in village level governance, constructing rainwater-harvesting
structures (johads, tanks, recharging wells) at the household and
the community level, and household toilets. The local women
have been organized into self-help groups and are being provided
with loans to undertake income-generating activities.The self-help
group mechanism has been leveraged to train women in areas
of local governance, water and sanitation.
The interventions in the area of water and sanitation were
implemented over a period of three years (2006-2009), at the end of
March 2009 which 6500 families will have access to ground water
for cooking drinking purposes, 540 household will have access
to closed sanitation and income of 400 women will increase in
the range of Rs. 1500 to Rs. 4000 depending on the venture.

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Family water closet – Over the three years, 540 families from
across 110 villages were provided with financial technical support
for individual household toilets. The objective of the water closet
system was to promote adoption of proven sanitation techniques
by families communities. The families got interest free loans to
be repaid in 10 easy installments over a period of 12 months.
During the Financial Year 2009-10, 658 family toilets were
constructed in 110 villages surrounding the AIS manufacturing Plant
in the District of Rewari, as well as 189 toilets was constructed
during April 2010 to June 2010, in the same villages.
During the Financial Year 2010-2011 and 2011-12, 669 family
toilets were constructed in 110 villages surrounding the AIS
Manufacturing Plant in the District of Rewari.

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Biocon Foundation : Sanitation Hygiene
Biocon Foundation :
Sanitation Hygiene
Biocon Foundation’s sanitation initiative, started in 2007, is
charged with the responsibility to increase the access of poorer
communities to safe and sustainable sanitation facilities. Such
facilities will improve the health status of the community and
decrease the environmental impact of inadequate sanitation
practices. Good Sanitation will also generate economic benefits by
increasing the number of workdays and help the environment.
In 2007 Biocon Foundation built a community toilet block in
Huskur, Anekal, for the village community and outside visitors.
This block comprises of separate sections for men and women;
each section has 6 toilets and two bathing cubicles. This was
done in collaboration with the Gram Panchayat of Huskur, and the
Zilla Panchayat, Bangalore Urban. This toilet block is now used
by pilgrims to the local village temple, by local school children,
and by bus drivers and conductors.
In their first household sanitation initiative, The Foundation has
built 900 household toilets in Huskur Gram Panchayat, Anekal,
Karnataka, in partnership with the community, the Embassy of
Ireland and the Government of Karnataka.

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The Foundation has worked in close collaboration with Zilla
Panchayat, the Gram Panchayat and the KRWSSA offices. These
government bodies have developed numerous Information
Education Communication tools, which were used to generate
awareness and motivate people to build and use their toilets.
Biocon Foundation (BF) and the Karnataka Rural Water Supply
and Sanitation Agency (KRWSSA), conducted a number of
awareness and educational workshops with the community in
Huskur. Through these activities the Foundation was able to cover
all the 1123 households in Huskur GP.
These awareness generation activities included short movies,
charts and focus group discussions which covered the connection
between good health and proper sanitation.
This was followed by demo sessions by vendors of toilet pans.
These sessions, facilitated by the KRWSSA, demonstrated
different models of floor pans, explained the benefits and costs of
each. The sessions were attended by the Huskur Gram Panchayat
committee members, who decided what model of toilet would
be best for the houses in the covered areas.
After this, six teams consisting of two ladies each visited every
house in the seven villages under the Huskur GP jurisdiction.
These teams again spoke to the head of the household about the
sanitation project, if that house did not have a toilet; the ladies
convinced them to build one and collected their contribution (Rs.
1000) for the cost of the toilet.
At the same time the Foundation hired two contractors from the
village and the actual building work started. While the contractor was
responsible for the foundation, the superstructure, laying the floor
pan, the plumbing, lining the soak pit and covering it with a concrete
cover; the household was responsible for digging the pit.

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Biocon Foundation : Sanitation Hygiene
The Foundation has just completed building 411 toilets in
Mangalgudda village, Badami Taluk, Bagalkot District, North
Karnataka. Each toilet has its own individual soak pit as in the
earlier project. The Foundation is also trying to implement end to
end solid and liquid waste management solutions, in an attempt
to provide villagers with a sustainable easy-to-manage solution
which will ensure sustained use of toilets.
Biocon Foundation intends to extend this programme to other
villages; the target is to build 2000 toilets in the financial year
2012-2013. The Foundation intends to proceed with caution – and
ensure active community participation in the project. Communities
must take ownership of these projects, and they must access
the Government funds that are available for these projects. The
12th Five Year plan provides additional help and incentives for
sanitation and the Government is actively promoting its sanitation
mission. Biocon Foundation intends to work actively with the
Government to increase the reach and effectiveness of this
programme.

26
Chambal Fertilisers and
Chemicals Limited’s
Role on Sanitation in
Surrounding Villages
Rural health is integral to India’s development. It is obvious that
only healthy rural population can contribute to the development
through enhanced productivity. Sanitation is critical to ensure rural
health. Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited understands
its responsibility towards rural population and has undertaken
various sanitation initiatives in the villages near its manufacturing
plants at Gadepan (Kota), Rajasthan. Chambal plans to enhance
sanitation through ‘community participation’ and ‘people led’
programmes. This paper shares Chambal’s proactive role in public
sanitation in surrounding villages and how the implementation
is spearheaded.
Importance of Sanitation
Individual health and hygiene is largely dependent upon availability
of adequate drinking water and proper sanitation. There is a

27
ChambalFertilisersandChemicalsLimited’sRoleonSanitationinSurroundingVillages
direct relationship between water, sanitation and public health,
especially in the poor communities whose health and nutrition
status is the weakest. Consumption of unsafe drinking water,
improper disposal of human excreta, improper environmental
sanitation and lack of personal and food hygiene are root causes
of many diseases in developing countries including India.
Sanitation has not received the recognition it deserves due
to lack of awareness and socio-cultural attitudes. This forces a
large number of households to the continued indignity of open
defecation. This has adverse impacts on health and is an acute
problem especially for women and young girls.
Chambal’s Initiatives on Sanitation
To promote sanitation among rural population in the vicinity of
its plants, Chambal has initiated a project to improve sanitary
practices through awareness campaigns and construction of
toilets. Awareness about good sanitary habits is spread by
regularly organizing health camps and sensitization programmes
in nearby villages/ schools.
Chambal constructed toilets for selected households in the villages
surrounding its plants as a pilot project under Total Sanitation
Campaign of the Government of India. In the years between 2010
and 2011, 715 toilets were constructed in 4 Gram Panchayats
covering 22 villages. For this purpose, a unique low construction
cost, low water consumption model of toilet was selected. More
than 50% cost of this project was borne by Chambal. In light
of the significant gender dimension of sanitation, this project
encouraged active involvement of women in the implementation
of the program.
Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited’s
Proactive Role on Sanitation in Surrounding Villages

28
Chambal has also constructed toilets
in the schools for girls in nearby
villages so that ‘good sanitation
habits’ can be inculcated at young
age.
To ensure general hygiene, the
company has also undertaken the
work of covering some village
drains as open drains normally lead
to stagnant water and spread of
diseases. Another initiative taken
up by Chambal is construction and maintenance of roads inside
the villages to prevent stagnation of water on such roads. This
ensures proper drainage of rain-water and household water. Such
activities help in improvement of living conditions and sanitation
amongst rural population.
Conclusion
Chambal is not only helping farmers with increased crop yields
but is also committed to improve quality of life of people in the
vicinity of its plants. In recognition of its CSR initiatives, Chambal
has won many awards including the coveted Golden Peacock
Award for Corporate Social Responsibility for the year 2009-10,
Golden Peacock Award for Sustainability for the year 2011.
Chambal constructed additional 200 toilets in FY 2012-13. In light
of the significant gender dimension of sanitation, this project
encouraged active involvement of women in the implementation
of the program.

29
GMR Varalakshmi
Foundation’s work in
the area of Sanitation:
Towards Setting
Standards
Introduction
GMR Varalakshmi Foundation is the Corporate Social Responsibility
arm of the GMR Group.
Its mandate is to develop social infrastructure and enhance the
quality of life of communities around the locations where the
Group has a presence. GMRVF is a section 25 (Not for Profit)
company.
Sanitation has been an area of concern in almost all of GMRVF’s
project areas. While it is involved in development of community
toilets in rural areas, creating awareness about sanitation and
related issues, and other aspects of sanitation, this note deals

30
with experiences and learnings in setting up and running pay-
and-use toilets in an urban context.
Pay-and-Use Toilets: Experiences and Learnings
In 2005, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation announced a
PPP scheme for construction of pay-and-use toilets on pavements.
GMRVF decided to participate in this, as we felt that it would be
a useful contribution to the city to help create model sanitation
facilities.
It was decided right from inception that the goal would be to
achieve the highest standards in this. In order to do this, it was
decided to undertake a survey of existing public toilet facilities,
their use, maintenance, etc. Some of the important issues that
this survey threw up were:
The difficulty of maintaining such a facility, given the general1.
attitude of the public towards responsible use of public
facilities
Difficulty of maintenance of the surroundings of such facilities,2.
with the nearby walls being more used as toilets than the
toilets themselves
Motivation, attitude and behavior of the staff, reflecting on3.
customer interface, maintenance, etc.
Very low, often zero, use of such facilities by women.4.
The Foundation talked to a variety of experts to get inputs to
planning our project. We photographed current sites and analysed
them for design features. We also talked to users of the toilet for
their feedback. At the same time, it was decided to get deeper
into the last issue, i.e., low use of such facilities by women.
Accordingly, a major survey involving about 400 women was

31
GMR Varalakshmi Foundation’s work in the area of Sanitation:
Towards Setting Standards
done across the twin cities, about their perception about public
toilets and why they did not use them. Some of the insights we
got as to why women did not use such facilities included:
Feeling of insecurity1.
Embarrassment2.
Bad smell, lack of hygiene3.
Lack of running/adequate water4.
Unclean surroundings5.
The Inputs from all these processes were kept in consideration
in designing, building and running our toilets. Some of the steps
taken were:
Clean Surroundings: Unclean surroundings had been cited by
both men and women as a major deterrent in the use of such
facilities. But often, sites allocated for pavement toilets are near
garbage dumps. We discussed with GHMC and had a clause
inserted in the MOU itself that garbage dumps would not be
situated near our toilets. We also looked at design solutions, in
that we made sure to landscape the immediate surroundings of
the toilet. In addition, we asked the maintenance person to look
after the surroundings, not just the inside of the toilet.
Design Features: Not only was an architect commissioned to
look at the study and design the toilets, we also had a very
senior architect-town planner to give his inputs into the design
presentation! Some of the things we brought in as design
features: (1) separate male-female entrances, as many women
had stated that they felt embarrassed using a common entrance.
Moreover, the male and female sections are separated by the
care-taker’s space so that there is no chance for any face to
face encounter (2) lighting and ventilation—again many users
had talked about bad smell, lack of ventilation, bad lighting.

32
We ensured that we had a 20 inch wide-grill ventilator running
across the entire structure at a suitable height (3) we have also
experimented with a child-toilet (smaller than usual pan), on the
women’s side to help younger users (4) as a strategy, we used
a very high quality outside finish, including granite cladding and
aluminum facia. This was an effort to change the perception
of the public regarding such facilities. (5) we installed features
not usually found in public facilities like room freshners, soap
dispensers, etc.
Environment friendliness: Looking to high water consumption
of such facilities, we felt that we should look at options for
water saving. Accordingly, in half our toilets, urinals on the men’s
side are ‘waterless urinals’ (aqua-free) which uses a technology
that totally eliminates use of water for flushing, thus saving a
huge amount of water. This may be a first for a public toilet in
India. We have monitored this closely, and it has been found
quite satisfactory in spite of heavy use. There is no bad smell
or any other problem, provided the cartridges are changed as
per schedule.
Training and motivation: The key to satisfactory maintenance,
upkeep and customer service is obviously the attitude and interest
of the caretaker. Accordingly, we consistently work with them
to keep this high. There are regular meetings and workshops
which aim to train them on the technical maintenance issues, as
well as public interaction, hygiene, etc. Most significantly, these
interactions stress the dignity and importance of their job. There
is also an annual award for the best care-taker from those who
are manning our toilets.
Monitoring: An elaborate system of monitoring has been set up
which involves looking at 30 factors, from cleanliness of toilets
and, whether the floor is dry, whether the outsides are clean,

33
GMRVaralakshmiFoundation’sworkintheareaofSanitation:TowardsSettingStandards
GMR Varalakshmi Foundation’s work in the area of Sanitation:
Towards Setting Standards
if litterbins are cleared, if consumables are in stock and stored
properly, whether user register is maintained, etc. GMRVF staff
make scheduled and surprise visits to check all these and discuss
with the caretakers.
Education and awareness: Using our toilets as venues for
social awareness. The large ad space outside is not used for
commercial ads but for social and environmental messages. Inside
also, several relevant messages are put up. Days like ‘toilet day’,
‘hand wash day’ etc. are celebrated with users.
Some of the processes and systems described above have
helped to create and maintain decent public facilities. However,
the most important learning is that it is a daily challenge!!!

34
Infosys Foundation
Initiative in the Area
of Sanitation in North
Karnataka
1. Goals of the initiative
To make 40 villages, in North Karnataka, India, with over•
10,000 families, reach 100% sanitation level (from current
less than 40% sanitation level) in Year 2012 and Educate
100,000 families in 100 villages to build a toilet at their
homes
Build re-usable artifacts like Awareness material (Displays,•
audio, video etc.), Innovation (Design, Construction,
Management, Maintenance), software programs (To track
implementation), and long lasting coalitions that will
continue to work even after this program is complete and
have motivation to reach 100% throughout India
Encourage small and medium entrepreneurs take advantage•
of this Rs.300,000 business in India in building toilets and

35
Infosys Foundation Initiative in
the Area of Sanitation in North Karnataka
help them make a sustainable living by making bricks,
blocks, door panels, roofs, precast material etc.
2. Components of the project – Awareness
creation
The initiative has come up with a multi-pronged approach•
to increase awareness in the public about sanitation. Some
of the important ones include
Seq. Initiative Progress between 2011
and January 20th, 2012
1. Partnership with local NGOs–
To bank on the network already
established, we have tied up
with local NGOs.
Sri Kottala Basaveshwara
Bharateeya Shikshana
Samithi Sedam that has a
history of over 35 years is
helping us in this effort.
2. IEC Sessions – Half day sessions
with villagers to educate them
on sanitation using professional
speakers as well as advanced
audio visual material.
75 sessions conducted in
60+ villages. Over 10,000
families attended these
sessions. Details tracked in
SalesForce.com
3. Personal visits and phone call
follow ups – Leaders in the
villages are reached to get the
Parishudh initiative started in
their villages.
So far over 120 villages
(including ones where we
conducted IEC sessions) are
reached to participate in the
initiative.
4. Door to door campaigns to
the households on the need of
sanitation.
So far over 5,000 homes
have been visited educating
them on the need for proper
sanitation. Details tracked in
SalesForce.com along with
their names, contact details
and date of visit.
5. Special awareness drives.
Swamiji and other people who
can make influence the society
speak on this cause at the
villages.
So far five such exclusive
sessions have been held. In
addition, sanitation is stressed
in all major public meetings
held by the NGO. Infosys
volunteers educated over 500
families one weekend.

36
6. Built prototypes – This is done
by construction of a few toilets
for early starters and have these
stand as models of what the
families will get in future.
So far 300 toilets are built
or are in progress at 12
villages.
7. Toilet summit – All day sessions
for heads of villagers to learn on
the need for sanitation in the
villages.
Two small meetings (20
villages) of village heads
are conducted. Major toilet
summit (200+ attendees
from 54 villages) held in
December 2011.
8. Toilet exhibition – Display of
various artifacts to containing
information on the need of
sanitation. An artifact repository
of over 100 display material
ranging from awareness material
to toilet technology to biogas to
government incentive is built.
5 such exhibitions have been
held in major events related
to health and hygiene.
9. Children as change agents –
Sessions involving children
are taken. Competition on
rural hygiene and sanitation is
currently in progress.
Over 1,200 schools in five
districts of North Karnataka
re invited to participate in this
competition. Over 10,000
students from 500+ schools
are expected to participate
in the competition.
10. C o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h
Government – Government
needs to tighten implementation
of laws on hygiene and sanitation
(All schools must have toilets,
PWD must maintain roads and
put necessary boards, Water
Dept. must discourage open
defecation in river banks, Finance
dept. give VAT exemption, GP
members must have toilets, All
shopping complexes must have
toilets etc.
Letters written to 8 central
ministries and Hon. Prime
Minister to act in this
regard outlining actions to
be taken by each Ministry.
Also a proposal submitted to
Government of Karnataka to
establish a “Task force on
achieving 100% sanitation in
the State of Karnataka”.

37
11. Mass media and other
means – Various other initiatives
including updates to press on
these initiatives, participation
in Government programs etc.
are used to raise awareness in
the public.
Press has been very
supportive. As of January
2012, Parishudh initiative
is known to at least 50%
of the Gram Panchayats in
Gulbarga district.
12. Visits to model villages –Tours
of villagers to villages 100%
sanitation villages
Three visits to Shilkewadi
(near Kolhapur) held so far.
Over 40 village heads visited
them.
3. Components of the project - Managing
volume
Sales Force, world’s leading contact management software•
is implemented to manage the volume, keep a track of
all campaigns conducted, contacts made, beneficiaries
signed up and follow up needed. Sales force Foundation
has given enterprise license for use, a value of over Rs.
15 Lakhs, complimentary for the Parishudh project for a
year for 10 users.
Attached presentation has details how this project is•
managed on Sales Force platform and also details of
campaigns in progress, villages selected, beneficiaries
signed up, construction in progress, GPS position of the
toilet location etc.
Data is updated one time at the lowest level. Rest of the•
data is all derived from the basic data entered and can be
viewed anywhere where there is internet access.

38
4. Components of the project – Construction
A design of the toilet with septic tank, brick walls, RCC•
roof or an ECOSAN toilet is chosen for Phase 1 of this
project. Other low cost models are evaluated but not
implemented due to lack of successful usage of those in
the geographic region and concerns over environmental
viability of those models.
Considering that something given for free may not have•
perceived value, a joint participation model for construction
of toilets is worked out. A toilet described as above costs
Rs.18,000 each. Rs. 6,300 is borne by the beneficiary,
Rs.3,700 is borne by the Government underTotal Sanitation
Campaign and Rs.8,000 by Infosys Foundation.
The Parishudh team links a designated local mason to do•
the work and oversees the completion of the toilet within
60 days of commencement of each. As of mid-January,
over 300 families have signed up for the program and
have a toilet construction in progress.
5. Highlights of the Year – 2012
Created awareness to over 250,000 families in over 500•
villages in last 16 months. Over 32,000 families have
registered their names for construction of toilets.
Construction of 8,500+ toilets is complete so far in•
over 300 villages. Over 4,000+ more toilets are under
construction.
Over 25 entrepreneurs are supported in the area of toilet•
construction and making precast toilets and some of them
have scaled up their operations. Over 1,000 masons are
trained so far. New 40 Nirmal Gram Samithis and NGOs

39
are formed or supported, each working on it’s own
making their own villages cleaner by taking up hygiene
and sanitation initiatives.
Over 10 villages are on the path to achieve 100% sanitation•
levels and becoming model villages. Various additional
initiatives in the areas of health, energy, education,
governance are initiated in these villages. Over 400 families
have also built biogas plant along with a toilet.
The parishudh team developed methodology, awareness•
creation material, best practices and necessary IT systems
to replicate the initiative at more districts. It also submitted
recommendations to over 20 ministries on the initiatives
to be taken up. it also did the project planning to help 1
crore families build toilets in 18 months and submitted
to concerned organizations.
Central Minister for Rural Development Sri. Jairam Ramesh•
visited some of the villages under Parishudh Initiative,
when he was also Minister for Drinking Water Supply and
Sanitation in August 2012.

40
Jankidevi Bajaj Gram
Vikas Sanstha
Jankidevi Bajaj Gram Vikas Sanstha (JBGVS) is a registered society
and Trust works for upliftment of poor and economically weaker
sections of the society through implementation of Integrated
Rural Development programmes. The organization was started
by Bajaj Auto to fulfill its “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)”.
The organization is working for upliftment of rural population
through implementation of different activities like education,
mother and child health care, income generation, agriculture
development, watershed development etc. JBGVS acts as a
Catalyst and its main emphasis has always been on people’s
participation at grass root level and achieves results with high
degree of effectiveness.
During last 25 years, the organization has implemented 10 major
projects of sanitation with financial assistance from various
organizations/agencies like Central Government, UNICEF, World
Bank, Government of Maharashtra, Rotary International, AFFPRO
CHF, Hunger Project and Khadi Village Industries Commission
(KVIC).
JBGVS has developed expertise in Rural Sanitation work with
the help of UNICEF. They have given guidance in various projects

41
Jankidevi Bajaj Gram Vikas Sanstha
like Central Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP), World Bank
assisted Rural Water Supply, Environmental Sanitation Health
Education (WBSP), Sant Ghadgebaba Gram Swachhata Abhiyan,
Total Sanitation Campaign, Nirmal Gram Yojana supported by
Central Government.
Due to their experience in sanitation, Zilla Parishad Pune and
Divisional Commissioner Office have selected JBGVS as District
Committee Member forTotal Sanitation Campaign. Government of
Maharashtra has selected JBGVS as a Knowledge Research Centre
(KRC) Agency for Nirmal Gram Award. JBGVS has inspected 410
villages and after our guidance 80 villages have been selected
for Nirmal Award. These villages have got memento, certificate
and award of Rs.2 lac.
We have organised awareness programmes, motivational
meetings, Gram Sabhas, Mahila Melava’s, training to masons,
Anganwadi Workers, Gram Sevaks, Gram Panchayat members,
Zilla Parishad members atTaluka District level. We have covered
Junnar, Khed, Maval, Haveli Mulshi taluka of Pune District
including JBGVS villages.
The two pit latrine model developed by JBGVS was certified
by Government of Maharashtra and it became very popular
throughout rural Maharashtra.
The Sansthan has conducted mason training programmes as
per request of Government in Pune,Aurangabad, Satara, Sangli
Kolhapur Districts, around 120 masons were trained and they
are working in their districts for construction of latrines.

42
Achievements Since Inception (1987-2012)
Sl no. Name of Programme Unit Quantity
1 Environmental Sanitation
Latrines constructed by JBGVS Nos. 7915
2 Latrines constructed by Technical
guidance
Nos. 4075
3 School Sanitation Complex Nos. 35
4 Soak Pits Nos. 2045
5 Bathroom/Urinals Nos. 190
6 Improved Chullhas Nos. 9275
7 Bio-Gas Plants Nos. 842
8 Villages inspected under Nirmal
Gram Yojna
Nos. 410
Government Sanitation Projects Implemented
Sl.
No.
Name of the Scheme –
Central / State Govt.
Period No. of schemes
or units
1 National Programme for
Biogas Development – Central
1990-
2006
823 Biogas plants
(Rs. 25.84 lakhs)
2 Improved Chullha Project-
Central
1990-
2006
8680 Chullhas
(Rs. 6.49 lakhs)
3 World Bank Assisted Rural
Water Supply, Environmental
Sanitation and Health
Education Project - State
1994-
1999
Project
(Rs. 15 lakhs)
4 Latrine Construction
Programme - Central/State
(CRSP)
1994-
2006
5715 latrines
(Rs. 134 lakhs)

43
Jankidevi Bajaj Gram Vikas Sanstha
NON GOVERNMENT PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED
Sl. No. Name of the Scheme Funded By Period
1 Comprehensive Rural
Sanitation Project
Women’s Motivation.
UNICEF, Mumbai
(Rs. 2.08 lakhs)
1990-1993
2 Biogas Extension
Programme (270) - Training
programme for 10 villages
of Maval Taluks.
Action for food
Production
(AFPRO) Delhi
(Rs. 2.34 lakhs)
1994-1999
3 Water Purification
Plants (3) Gahunje,
Tal. Maval – 2
Kanhewadi Tarfe
Chakan - 1
PNRCT under
Rotary Foundation
(Rs. 6.05 lakhs)
Zilla Parishad
Pune (Rs. 4 lakhs)
2001-2002
4 School Sanitation Project
- 69 programmes
UNICEF, Mumbai
(Rs.13.02 lakhs)
2001-2003
Impact
Reduced water borne diseases.•
Reduced bad smell in villages•
Change the habit of open defecation.•
Increased participation in all the village development activities.•
Provide social security and save embarrassment to women•
Confidence increased in the women after 100% latrine•
construction work.
10 villages of Khed Maval blocks of Pune District have•
been awarded ‘Nirmal Gram Award’. Villagers are proud of
work done under Nirmal Gram Yojana.
Attendance increased in the school due to reduction of•
various diseases.
Sarpanch and Deputy Sarpanch have been developed as•
motivators to other villages.
Improvement in general status of health.•

4444
K K Nag Limited –
Low Cost Sanitation
Solutions
The Company’s tryst with providing engineered, low-cost sanitation
solutions began with revulsion to the sight of open defecation.
Over time it was realised that it must be completely dehumanising
to those who had no other choice but to indulge in it.
They investigated numerous methods of off-site and on-site sewage
treatment and disposal (many of which emanated from the West
and were thus culturally unsuitable or much too expensive) and
finally came to the conclusion that on-site methods were best
suited for a geographically spread out country like India. But
there were several on-site options available; some using aerobic
digestion and others using anaerobic digestion, and each had a
place in a given circumstance. We then decided that, given our
limited resources, and the fact that we are a plastic processing
company, instead of spreading ourselves too thin by working on all
aspects of sanitation, the focus of our efforts on that area should
be, which was common to all sanitation systems and where one
could possibly add the most value, namely the Pans and Traps.
The objective was to operate on a no - profit, no-loss basis, and

45
K K Nag Limited – Low Cost Sanitation Solutions
thus price the Pans and Traps so reasonably that no one could
say that he could not afford to install one.
We came out with our first products made of Fibreglass but soon
found these to be inappropriate because these were cumbersome
to transport and fairly expensive. In addition, the company’s
laboratory trials showed that when the Pans were repeatedly
rubbed with a brush, the top layer of resin would get eroded and
the glass fibres would start coming out, leaving crevices in which
dirt accumulated.
The company studied the work that Dr Kamal Kar was doing
with low-cost sanitation in Bangladesh. In 2003, we got to know
that Dr Kar was leading a CLTS initiative in Maharashtra; so the
company tracked him down. The most important take-away for
the company from that first meeting was Dr Kar’s emphasis on
total sanitation for everyone in a village. This meant that one
could not consider the project of sanitation completed unless and
until every inhabitant of the village had access to, and actually
used, a toilet, as otherwise those who did not use toilets would
continue to spread diseases even to those who had gone through
the trouble and expense of installing toilets themselves.
To improve the products, the company next tried rotationally
moulding them in LLDPE as a one piece construction (which
made them very bulky to transport because they could not be
nested) and, in the next stage, these were rotationally moulded,
the Pans and Traps separately (this solved the transportability
problem but the cost was still not low enough due to the low
productivity of the rotational moulding process and the amount
of raw material that was used).
The company believed that they had an ideal solution in the
fourth generation of their product offering which consists of an
injection moulded PP Pan and a blow moulded HMHDPE Trap.
By using plastics as the material of construction, the company

has ensured that their sanitation products are easy to handle
(because of their light-weight), easy to maintain and clean, highly
abrasion and chemical resistant and virtually unbreakable when
compared to similar ceramic products (which means that they can
be transported to the interiors of India, on very primitive roads,
without suffering any damage). The products are also available
in a wide variety of colours.
But the most unique advantages of these Pans and Traps stem
from their engineering and design. Very little water is required for
flushing because of the combination of a 20 mm water seal and
a 350 slope (which is the maximum slope that can be achieved
while maintaining the recommended assembly height of 11/2 ft
and is a good 100 more than what is possible in ceramics, due
to the thinner wall sections in plastics).
The Pans are completely nestable and snugly fit one into the
other so 3,300 sets can be accommodated in a truck (compared
to about 800 ceramic Pans of a similar size) drastically reducing
the transportation costs. The front of the Pan has also been
provided with additional depth to avoid spillage of urine and
the Traps are sized to fit with all standard 4” sanitary pipes.
And, because of the plastic moulding processes that have been
selected, the quantities that can be produced are highly scaleable.
The company sells Pans and Traps on a no-profit, no-loss basis-
the basic, ex-factory price was Rs 125 per set!
The company has sold over a lac of sets in Maharashtra and
various other parts of the country. However, the company sells
some small quantities occasionally when they are approached
by NGOs and others who are familiar with the quality of their
products.
46

47
Suzlon Foundation – Sanitation programs
47
Suzlon Foundation –
Sanitation programs
In partnership with United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF)
SUZLON CSR
The CSR initiatives of individual companies in Suzlon group are
now under the umbrella of Suzlon Foundation. A comprehensive
CSR policy and program framework has been evolved focusing on
integrating a sustainability perspective across the business and
offsetting business footprints through sustainable development
programs
Sanitation Program
The Objective is to initiate and sustain sanitation and hygiene in poor
unserved rural and peri-urban areas of Suzlon Neighborhood.
The Key sanitation issues are Open defecation; poor hygiene
and sanitation of toilets in schools; lack of proper hand washing;
lack of adequate waste water drainage; lack of access to hygiene,
sanitation knowledge, skill, facilities and services; lack of collective
management of the issue.

48
The implementation approach focus is on
Participatory rapid appraisal•
Formation of health and sanitation committees and institutional•
mechanisms
Preparation of community action plans•
Capacity building through workshops and exposure visits•
Input supply•
Community mobilization and behavior change communication•
Construction of amenities•
Maintenance of amenities by community•
Solid Waste Management
Location : Pondicherry;
Villages : Thiruvandarkoil;
Partner : Ekoventure; Reach: 600 households;
Strategy : Household level solid waste management
Women’s groups were formed and awareness meetings conducted
on health, hygiene and solid waste management. Video films
on solid waste management, ECOSAN toilets and Essential
Microbicide (EM) usage were projected. Nearly 35 existing
women SHGs were identified, scrutinised and graded for the
selection of enthusiastic and willing women SHGs to participate
and implement the project activities. Based on the performance,
24 women SHGs were selected, formed as a cluster, members
trained and were issued with SWM drums one per household.
Further, each SHG was provided with Rs. 25,000 as revolving
fund. The amount has been issued as loans to the members at
2% interest per month and it was agreed that 50% of the interest

49
amount thus collected will be deposited in a Savings Bank account
in the name of the cluster to be jointly operated by the elected/
selected leader of the cluster and the field staff of Ekoventure.
The interest amount thus accrued was utilized for the project
activities. This ensures the sustainability of the project activities.
The amount thus saved was utilised in promoting Menstrual health
and hygiene in Schools and 3 Incinerators were constructed (one at
each School) for the safe disposal of the napkins. Exposure visits
were organized to solid waste management projects at village/
community level to understand the importance of segregation
and decomposition of solid waste. The women were trained in
batches of 25 on Effective Microorganism based production of
Activated EM, Bokashi and management of solid waste units
through 28 introductory awareness sessions, 16 video projections,
4 exposure visits and 21 training programs on EM.
Thereafter, each household was supplied with two solid waste
management unit - a barrel with a tap at the bottom, small brick
and nylon net/bag.The women groups prepared Activated Effective
Microorganism (AEM) in a common place and each household
received required quantity of AEM and Bokashi per month. The
project provided the Effective Microorganism stock solution, jiggery,
saw dust, etc required for the preparation of AEM and Bokashi.The
technique is the one adopted from the Dr. Lucas Dengel’s manual
on “EM Technology”. The fluid which is drained everyday from the
barrel is used as a liquid fertilizer, in pots, in garden beds, etc. It
is also poured down in the kitchen and bathroom drains and is
used in septic tanks. The skills in making AEM and Bokashi using
available material will be shared to ensure sustainability.
Vegetable seed minikits were distributed to nearly 200 nos
of women and demonstrations were conducted to lay Kitchen
gardens using the compost obtained by decomposing the solid
waste from the households by using the technology.

50
Nirmal Gram
Location : Palsodi, MP;
Villages : Isarthuni, Gopalpura Tajpuriya;
Implementation by : Suzlon Foundation, MP with
Total Sanitation Campaign
Reach : 2 schools 200 households;
Strategy : Open defecation check through
sanitation committee
General health check ups were done for 1013 students from
all 12 schools. Positive health was reinforced through health
awareness sessions for students, school teachers anganwadi
workers. One teacher from each of the 12 schools was trained
as a resource person and exposure visit was held for 25 students
and panchayat members of Isarthoni. Student sanitation rally
was also held. Technical expertise was sought from public health
department to demonstrate soak pit constructed in two villages.
200 toilet constructed. “Triggering exercise” was held by taking
groups near human waste and demonstrating contamination of
water from waste, triggering a feeling of horror. A third party
evaluation of Isarthoni village was done, it was declared ‘Open
Defecation Free’ and received the President Award for ‘Nirmal
Gram’.
PEHCHAN-Karnataka/ Maharashtra
Location : Gadag, Karnataka;
Villages : Chikkavaddatti and Murdi;
Partner : Project concern International (PCI) through BIRDS;
Location : Dhule, Maharashtra;
Villages : Jamgaon, Ghorvad, Advadi;
Partner : PCI through Yuva Mitra;

51
Reach : 10000 population through 101 sanitation campaigns;
Strategy : Behavior change communication and
community action
At the school levels, in order to bring about behaviour change
among school going students, many school health programs
were implemented in the villages and through this, messages
related to proper use of toilets in school and sanitation education
was imparted to reach the community and the houses. The
messages are being reinforced from time to time to emphasize
its importance. Sessions on personal hygiene with children about
importance of regular cutting of nails, daily brushing of teeth,
proper washing of hands and legs, daily bath etc was shared
with the children. This was done through short stories from their
school books like ‘Guni Manjoo’. In addition, coloured posters,
songs, games and competitions were used.
During self help group meetings, discussions were held
on women’s health with emphasis on menstrual hygiene,
environmental sanitation, safety of food and drinking water.
Techniques in water filtration, purification using alum or chlorine
solution, and handling were discussed and behavior change
practices modified.
Discussions about different health aspects of the village were
held with Grampanchayat and village health committees. Epidemic
prevention activities like cleanliness around and chlorination of
drinking water tanks, well and hand pumps were carried out by
the community members and, soakage pits were constructed
around these water sources.
Thus issues related to personal hygiene, home sanitation, safe
water, and proper waste water disposal were covered in the
multi-stakeholder sanitation campaigns.

Conclusion:
Challenges: Resistance to drink chlorinated water due to its
bitter taste; low adoption of vermicomposting activity due to
water shortage; slow adaptation to new hygiene and sanitation
practices by adults.
Outcomes: Prevention of open defecation; Enhanced hygiene and
sanitation in schools; Decrease in diarrheal episodes; Increased
sanitation awareness; Enhanced sanitation around community
water sources; Enhanced hygiene- sanitation knowledge, skill,
facilities and services; Community ownership of the issue and
its management.
Lesson learnt: Multi-stakeholder, Multi-pronged approach to
group sanitation behavior change is powerful in any community
setting.

53
TataMotors’initiativesforEnsuringDrinkingWaterandPromotingSanitationinVillages
53
Tata Motors’ initiatives
for Ensuring Drinking
Water and Promoting
Sanitation in Villages
Tata Motors is committed to improving the quality of life of
communities by working in four thrust areas – Health, Employability,
Education and Environment.The activities are concentrated primarily
in the villages around the six manufacturing units of the company,
viz in Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Pune (Maharashtra), Lucknow (Uttar
Pradesh), Pantnagar (Uttaranchal), Dharward (Karnataka) and Sanand
(Gujarat) and more recently company has taken into fold Mumbai
(Thane and Raigad district) for expansion of its CSR activities.
In the past, more than 12000 low cost toilets were constructed
in the villages near Jamshedpur and in 246 villages, village Water
and Sanitation committees were created which are continuing
to monitor the progress of improvements in sanitation related
behavioural practices.
A holistic programme that targets both the availability of sanitary
facilities through construction of sanitary blocks and an awareness
that promotes the use of such facilities through health campaigns,

5454
Tata Motors’ initiatives for Ensuring Drinking Water and
Promoting Sanitation in Villages
publications, media, plays, competitions and workshops is
implemented in the villages. Tata Motors’ concerted efforts to
improve health and sanitation in villages around the manufacturing
units of the company have been recognized by the Government of
India.Three panchayats in East Singbhum District (namely Dorkasai,
Kalapathar and Potka) in the state of Jharkhand and three villages
in Pune, Maharashtra have received the Nirmal Gram Puruskar from
the President of India for promotion of Total sanitation facilities
being available to all individual households in these villages.
Sanitation Talks with school children in a village at Sanand, Gujarat
Water Sanitation Programmes - Highlight of year
2011-12
Sanand
Overall strategy is to make the village self-reliant which is being
achieved through collaborative approach and active participation of the
villagers leading to sustainable development.They are getting actively
involved in planning and implementation of every program such
that in four to five years time, TML will be able to phase out from
the programs, which will run through the initiative of the villagers.
Presence of Sakhi Mandals and village development committees

55
TataMotors’initiativesforEnsuringDrinkingWaterandPromotingSanitationinVillages
like WATSAN (Water Sanitation) committees are ensuring the
continuity of the development initiatives started by TML.
Sanitation in Every Household
The findings of a rapid household survey by the CSR team of
TATA MOTORS (TML) Nano Plant, at Sanand revealed that less
than 20% of the households in villages that lie in the CSR project
area of Sanand have access to sanitation facilities. To address this
issue, an innovative sanitation program was initiated.
The CSR team along with the engineers of the civil and utilities
department of the TML Sanand plant tried out several models.
Finally the team with help of the local masons developed a pre-
fabricated, standardized, sustainable, low cost concrete model of
household toilet. This model was developed based on the WHO
approved pit type of hand flush latrine with water seal. The low
cost, durable, high quality, innovative model of Household toilet that
was designed cost Rs. 4500/- for complete installation and could
be installed very easily in less than four hours time. This model of
low-cost toilets has been installed in every household through an
equal sharing of the total cost of installation by the company, by
the Government and by the beneficiary. In 2011-12, 486 sanitation
blocks have been installed, benefiting over 2500 people. Through
this program, the Company has reached out to 7 villages in Sanand
and 100% sanitation has been achieved in 3 villages of Aniyari,
Melasana and Dodar-Davedi. This program has also led to reduction
in the incidence of water borne diseases in these villages.
SANITATION activities at Pune
Another crucial aspect of health is that which pertains to dignified
sanitation alternatives to the rural population. Tata Motors has
been helping villagers to construct toilet blocks for nearly a
decade now. We have provided toilet blocks to 267 families across
villages namely Tupewasti, Chandus, Pamper, Kiwale, Kurkundi,
near Pune.

56
Sanitation Programme at Dharwad
We are supporting National Sanitation Programme at Kurbagatti,
Mangalgatti and Mulamutala Villages.Till date we have constructed
70 toilet blocks in the villages near to Dharwad.
Tata Marcopolo Motors takes care of community surrounding its
factory. With a view to improve the health, the company conducts
the medical check-up camps, distribution of free medicines,
support to the schools and drinking water projects. The company
is aiming to complete around 500 toilets blocks under Belur
Kurabagatti Panchyat limits. So far around 165 toilet blocks have
been completed in Neeralkatti Belur Gram Panchayat. It also
motivates the villagers to come forward to construct toilet blocks
and make their village as model village.
Sanitation Programme at Kurbagatti- NSS Camp Dharwad
As a part of Industry – Institute interaction Tata Marcopolo Motors
is supporting local institutes in many fronts. The company had
extended its support for conducting 7 days NSS camp conducted
by Karnataka College in Kurbagatti village. The main objective of
conducting the camp was to improve the hygiene, cleanliness,
and creating awareness about general health. Total 140 male
female volunteers took part in the camp. As a part of camp,
volunteers constructed around 60 toilet blocks during these
seven days.
Construction of toilet blocks-way to dignified sanitation.
A mason (seen) measuring the dimension of a toilet block.
Tata Motors’ initiatives for Ensuring Drinking Water and
Promoting Sanitation in Villages

57
Tata Power – Community Development Project
57
Tata Power – Community
Development Project
Tata Power has taken up several social-economic-environment
development initiatives under its Community Relations (CR)
department. It is guided by the company’s vision and mission.
Community development initiatives are followed by triple bottom
line – Building Social capital, economical development and
Environment Care. There are seven thrust areas like Income
Generation, Education, Healthcare, Infrastructure, Environment,
Energy and Social Welfare. Each plant location prepares their plan
with the community and prioritize their thrust areas.
Demography
Tata Power caters to a total population of 29,2016, wherein 51%
are male and the remaining 49% are female in 380 villages of
five States (Maharashtra,
Jharkhand, Gujarat, Odisha
and West Bengal).
Tata Power has reached out
to all categories of people in
and around its operational

58
areas. Out of a total of 29, 2016 population, 62% (179625) belong
to the general category, 31% (91361) belong to SC (13%) and
ST (18%). The balance 7% (21030) belongs to OBC.
Sanitation Programme: Public Private Partnership
Model
Tata Power is setting up a 4000 MW power plant named Coastal
Gujarat Power Limited (CGPL) at Mundra, Kutch district in Gujarat.
It has attracted thousand of workforce. Villagers used to go for
open toilet defecation, which was uncomfortable for women folk of
Tunda and Vandh village, neighbour of CGPL. They expressed their
problems of sanitation during the several need assessment drives
taken up CGPL during the initiation of the project. Detailed socio
economic survey using the PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal)
techniques were used for identifying the short term and the long
term needs of the villages in the catchment area. Total sanitation
during the initial surveys showed the disinterest of the men folk
of the cattle rearing community of the village and hence CGPL
encouraged women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to motivate their
male counterparts; several awareness campaigns were organized
involving Government officials (Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), a
programme of Government of India) and authorities from District
Rural Development Agency for behaviour change communication.

59
Tata Power – Community Development Project
Finally, all families agreed to construct sanitation (toilet and
bathroom) in partnership with Government and CGPL. Out of
total 560 households in these two villages, sanitation units were
constructed for all 204 households of Below Poverty Line and
Above Poverty Line within six months (October 2009 to March
2010), only those who didn’t have toilets. The entire activity was
managed by each family, which has created a greater sense of
ownership. This design was prepared in consultation with the
community, after review of various models such as TSC, WASMO
and Sulabh International. CGPL engineers monitored the quality
of programme. The average cost of sanitation unit was Rs.
11000, where each family contributed 10% of total cost, 1% by
Government and remaining by CGPL. Now 100% households of
both villages have sanitation and piped water. After the completion
of 100% sanitation, the villages have been audited by Ministry
of Rural Development for Nirmal Gram Yojana.

6060
TATA Steel’s involvement
in Total Sanitation
Campaign
Tata Steel through its Society’s Tata Steel Rural Development
Society (TSRDS), Sanitation Project was started by the name
WATSAN- Water and Sanitation, in the year 1999. It was started in
Jamshedpur and Potka block. During the initial phase while giving
emphasis on creating awareness on the key components of TSC,
the construction of toilets started in the year 2001, with the decision
of the Government to provide each household with toilets. In the
year 2001-02 TSRDS was successful in putting up 1580 toilets.
It is driven by the concept that awareness and health education
will generate demand for sanitation facilities. Total Sanitation
Campaign aims at:
Bringing about an improvement in the general quality of life•
in the rural areas
Accelerate sanitation coverage in these areas•
Generate felt demand for sanitation facilities through•
awareness creation and health education

61
TATA Steel’s involvement in Total Sanitation Campaign
Encourage cost effective and appropriate technologies in•
sanitation
Endeavors to reduce the incidence of water and sanitation•
related diseases
Cover schools in rural areas with sanitation facilities•
It has a strong emphasis
on Information, Education
and Communication (IEC),
Capacity Building and
Education on Hygiene
aiming towards behavioral
changes.
T h e r e a r e s e v e n
components of this
project, which includes;
Safe handling of drinking
water; Safe disposal of
waste water; Safe disposal of human excreta; Safe garbage
disposal; Home Sanitation; Personal hygiene and Village
sanitation
Project Area and Interventions
Initiated in 2003 by TSRDS, its operational area covers 212 villages
and 24 panchayats in the Jamshedpur, Potka and Patamda blocks of
East Singhbhum, Saraikela block of Saraikale and Kharswan district
and Jharia block of Dhanbad district in the State of Jharkhand.
By ensuring community participation in the process of demand
generation and also implementation, TSRDS over the year has
ensured that the benefit is made available to around 27,435
Structure of the toilet provided to each
household

households through individual and community toilets, benefitting
1,58,877 people.
The following pages will show the number of households in all these
5 blocks / clusters. The number of APL and BPL families in these
clusters and the number of toilets installed in these villages.
With each progressing year, the number of toilets being installed
kept on increasing with the aim of successfully covering all the
three blocks. The year wise details are given in the table below:
Table 1: The year wise toilets constructed
Activities 01-02 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 Total
No of toilet installed
in BPL families
1540 1700 650 2246 2848 3432 5211 4543 22170
No of toilet installed
in APL families
40 134 54 82 21 328 267 1075 2001
TOTAL 1580 1834 704 2328 2869 3760 5478 5618 24171
As shown in the above table, The Society has constructed 24,171
toilets in four blocks and 212 villages of East Singhbhum, Saraikela
and Dhanbad districts of Jharkhand.
Recognition in TSC
Nirmal Gram Puraskar to TSRDS intervening Panchayats
Four Panchayats from TSRDS field area (three from Jamshedpur
unit and one from Jamadoba unit ( as Jamdoba Unit is also
implementing the project in Dhanbad District) has been awarded
the “Nirmal Gram Puraskar”. The award is being given to the
Panchayats who have done outstanding work in promoting
rural sanitation and to reward Panchayati Raj Institutions (Gram
Panchayat, Panchayat Samitis, and Zilla Panchayat), individuals and
institutions for their sustained efforts towards achieving it.

63
TVS Electronics’ Corporate Partnership in Sanitation
63
TVS Electronics’
Corporate Partnership
in Sanitation
Introduction
In TVS Electronics case, corporate contribution prior to
interventions was limited to creation of infrastructure or in
some cases creating awareness. However, in 2004 there was
a paradigm shift in the approach from why sanitation by the
corporate sector to why not sanitation. And the Government
of Tamil Nadu invited TVS-Electronics to partner the sanitation
programme in a Panchayat in Kancheepuram district – the
Thiruvidanthai panchayat. Thiruvidanthai is a temple village with
365 households but was a great tourist attraction with an old
Vishnu temple of archaeological significance.
The path to total sanitation – Phase I:
This was the most challenging phase focusing on behavioural
change and adoption of good hygiene practices. Construction

64
of mere toilets would not ensure their utilisation, so an all out
effort in the “MISSION” mode was planned and sparked off
at the village level. Initially at the start of the programme, only
40% of the households had toilets constructed, of which nearly
30% were non-utilised and nearly 60% had no access to toilets.
It was with this target that the programme was started in the
village. The Government suggested a time period of four months
for completing the programme. A scientific methodology for
continuous demand creation was evolved.
A Stake Holder’s meeting enlisted the support of the villagers, the
Government and the corporate commitment to the programme.
Street level committees were formed and volunteers enlisted.
These volunteers were taken for an exposure to the Nirmal
Gram Puruskar village to show them total sanitation as a feasible
programme. Interestingly, the size of the leech pit and the model
itself was the cause of great apprehension. It was regarding the
capacity. The visit to the clean village put to rest these doubts
as a discussion with women from similar background was able
to convince them about the quantity of waste generated per day
per person and the rate of decomposition.
They created two types of demo models with two different costs
and allowed for individual choice. Outcome: a real picture of what
is constructed and at what cost is available to all households. The

65
different models and their costs should be discussed and the
individual is allowed to choose according to their ability to pay.
A Sanitation mapping exercise was conducted to mark the areas
with Households having toilets and households not having one.
Garbage dumps were also marked to ensure that they were
cleaned up. This was followed by discussions on different toilet
models and cost options. Cultural activities were organized with
the teams from State Institute of Rural Development presenting
plays on hygiene, puppet shows and screening video shows.
Consciously, it was decided to make children as catalysts of
change and involve them to a great extent in influencing behaviour
change. Focus was on enhancing the utilization and increasing
the toilet facilities in schools and Balwadis..
A village level student rally with hygiene messages and children
encouraging parents to build toilets at home paved the way
for demand creation of toilets in a sustained and a concerted
manner. Focus was also on increasing the utilisation of the
existing toilets and undertaking repairs etc. to ensure usage. On
the supply side, there was a range of toilets on offer from the
low water intensive to the plastic basins and also different leach
pit models. Financially also an amount equivalent to which the
company contributed was added to the Government contribution
to build the toilets. The toilets were built with 17:17:66 percentile
financial contributions from the stakeholders, the TVS-Electronics
Limited and the Government.
The Second phase of sanitation – Solid Waste
Management (SWM):
With increased urbanisation and Thiruvidanthai being an open
village with constant pilgrim groups visiting the village, solid waste

66
disposal was one of the issues, the village was grappling with.
Awareness creation of waste segregation methods and need for
proper disposal mechanisms was evolved at the village level.
A team of SHG women were identified to work as the Solid
waste management team and they were trained on composting
processes, segregation, recycling aspects and cleaning up of
the public places in the village. Corporate contribution of 70%
and Government contribution of 30% financially were provided
initially.
The continuous and combined efforts of the Government, the
corporate and the stake holders saw the award of the Nirmal
Gram Puruskar for the village in the year 2006. It paved the
way for the evolution of a model of public private partnership
in sanitation which can be scaled up and replicated elsewhere.
The scheme is unique in a way that there was no duplication
of activities and concerted efforts were made to ensure that
there was always consensus in working to bridge resource gaps
of all kinds whether it be technical, managerial or financial. The
continuous presence of the company in the village ensured the
sustainability of the project and the probability of getting their
problems redressed through discussions. These successes gave
the company avenue to take up the third phase of the sanitation
– women’s hygiene.
The Third Phase of Sanitation - Women’s Hygiene
issues:
The Government initiated training on low cost sanitary napkin
production and a group of Self Help Group women were trained
on production and a unit was set up with tripartite agreement
of 80% financial contribution from the company, 15% from the
Government and 5% from the SHG women. The social objective

67
is providing access to low cost hygienic napkins to adolescent
girls and women in rural areas. The economic objective is that
for a few women this production was a source of livelihood.
Education and discussion on menstrual hygiene followed by
providing access to low cost hygienic napkins paved the way for
increased use of napkins. Combined with this, is the provision
of low cost disposal techniques to ensure that the programme
is environment friendly and sustainable in the long run.
Conclusion
These efforts and programmes in sanitation are not over and
there is continuous innovation and adaptation to field realities that
will keep the programme sustaining. While the path travelled has
not been easy with lots of ups and downs, yet the results and
the response from the field have been enormous. It has shown
that any programme can be made successful with continued and
sustained inputs and proper management. The commitment of
the corporate sector in providing technical, managerial, marketing,
problem solving and conflict resolution techniques to the social
issue of enhancing sanitation usage is the model that has been
presented here.
Sustained concerted and committed efforts by the company
from the top management have ensured that this unique model
is continuously upgraded.
This model has shown that such whole hearted commitment
from companies and even individuals can help in addressing the
sanitation gap in the developing countries. Technological dualism
with pockets of high technology and low capital intensive units
can co-exist and to a certain economic dualism with the high
consumption groups and low consumption groups, can exist

68
together. The corporate model of sanitation that we have evolved
is just a tiny drop in the ocean of sanitation campaigns to ensure
that the access to such basic facilities like toilets and napkins
are not the problems of the twenty first century.

69
Usha Martin Group: Clean Environment for Healthy Living
Usha Martin Group:
Clean Environment for
Healthy Living
Krishi Gram Vikas Kendra (KGVK) was conceptualised as a
sustainable, holistic and inclusive response to the complex
problems of poverty, powerlessness, lack of community
organisation, lack of assets, unemployment, malnutrition, ill
health, illiteracy and ignorance surrounding the vulnerable people
in 350 villages across 5 districts of Jharkhand. KGVK as a non-
profit organization was registered in 1977.
Integrated rural development has been the philosophy of KGVK,
with Total Village Management (TVM) as its working model. Usha
Martin’s shop floor learnings from Total Productivity Maintenance
(TPM) were adapted and adopted to suit the rural context and
renamed as TVM.
As a logical extension of the philosophy of TVM, activities related
to safe drinking water access and sanitation are key priorities
for KGVK. The awareness of, and access to, safe drinking water,
clean energy sources and sanitation becomes imperative. As
the purchasing capacity of rural people is limited, a paradigmatic

70
shift to a hygienic way of life must go hand in hand with low-
maintenance and affordability.
Sl. No Hygiene and Sanitation Jharkhand (Rural)
(% Household)
1 Piped drinking water facility 0.1
2 Drinking Well 54
3 Hand pump 35.7
4 Smokeless oven N. A.
5 Bio gas 0.1
6 Toilet facility 5
Source: NFHS -3
Initiatives
As part of KGVK’s development initiatives that integrate the
concerns of natural resources and social capital, activities for
safe drinking water like the construction of wells and piped
drinking water networks, the repair and installation of hand
pumps, smokeless cooking stoves (chulhas), biogas/gobar gas
plants and low-cost toilets, are being taken up in the villages
under KGVK’s command area.
Constructing low-cost toilets
KGVK pioneered the concept of using low-cost material to
construct toilets in its operational area. In its pilot phase, 26
households own low-cost toilets. Determinants for the ramping
up of this project include:
• Type of soil
• Local availability of construction material
• Water availability and its use in different types of toilets
• The degree of individual maintenance required

71
Usha Martin Group: Clean Environment for Healthy Living
Impact
Two key and inter-related thrust areas of KGVK under its TVM
model are a sustainable and equitable access to safe water and
an adequate sanitation system. A study conducted by KGVK to
analyse the impact of sanitation facilities on mortality rates of
children below five years, based on a retrospective data analysis
with selected indicators, took inputs from 450 beneficiaries across
Namkom and Patratu.
Table A
Diseases Before KGVK
Intervention
(Nos of cases)
Nos of
Deaths
After KGVK
Intervention
(Nos of cases)
Nos of
Deaths
% De-
crease
In nos
of cases
Patratu Namkom Patratu Namkom
Diarrhoea 65 34 7 12 6 Nil 450
Jaundice 9 3 2 1 1 Nil 300
Malaria 45 23 1 40 18 Nil 17.24
Source: KGVK’s Primary Survey
The above data indicates a steady decline of child mortality,
more marked in Namkom. In both locations, this decrease was
closely related to the decline in diarrhoeal mortality and decrease
in incidences of malaria and jaundice. An investigation into the
causes revealed greater vaccination coverage, increased literacy
and more homes with piped water supply.
Conclusion
Impure/unusable water and lack of access to improved sanitation
pose a major threat to human health. Disease analysis suggests
that lack of access to safe water supply, sanitation and hygiene
is the third most significant risk for poor health in Jharkhand. The
simple act of washing hands regularly can reduce the number of

72
diarrhea infection by up to 35%. The United Nations Millennium
Declaration confirmed the central role of water and sanitation in
sustainable development and the major contribution that extended
access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation can make
to poverty alleviation. KGVK endeavours to empower communities
to seek health-seeking behaviour by developing sustainable access
to safe water and sanitation. It seeks to create a positive ripple-
effect of better health, enhanced human productivity, income and
leisure, better school attendance, among others.

Corporate Sector involvement in Sanitation – A CII Report

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Corporate Sector involvement in Sanitation – A CII Report