New Delhi: The India Sanitation Coalition (ISC) was launched in 2015 at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to bring organisations together and promote safe, sustainable and inclusive sanitation in India. ISC works with governments, businesses, NGOs and other partners to support sanitation projects, improve financing and share successful ideas. In 2021, ISC focused on the role of women in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). It received nearly 20 nominations for the Women Gamechangers in Sanitation awards. The awards highlighted work in areas such as sanitation awareness, financial support, government programmes, faecal sludge management, skill development, and the safety and welfare of sanitation workers.
Download The Full Report: ISC-FICCI Sanitation Awards 2021
For NDTV-Dettol Banega Swachh India, these awards provide an opportunity to look at some of the sanitation initiatives that stood out for their real work on the ground.
Best Corporate Initiative in Sanitation: Small, Medium and Large
NSE Foundation worked with the Maharashtra government to improve water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities in tribal residential schools, called Ashramshalas. The project ran from June 2017 to September 2020 and covered 172 Ashramshalas. Schools were provided with working toilets, safe drinking water and cleaner surroundings, and children were taught basic hygiene practices, including menstrual hygiene for girls.
Best Communication in Sanitation
BBC Media Action created “Malasur,” a fictional demon representing untreated human waste. The campaign encouraged households to build proper septic tanks, get them cleaned every three years by licensed operators, and report illegal dumping. It became a national campaign and was recognised by NITI Aayog as a best practice.
NABARD launched the campaign in October 2020 to spread awareness about clean water, sanitation and hygiene, especially during COVID-19. It used posters, jingles, short films and local-language material and worked with governments, NGOs, banks and local authorities.
The Karnataka Rural Drinking Water & Sanitation Department started the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign to promote better sanitation practices. The campaign used social media and traditional methods to spread awareness about toilet use, cleanliness, waste management, water conservation and rainwater harvesting. It also encouraged people to report sanitation-related problems through the PARIHARA helpline.
Best Non-profit Engagement Model in Sanitation: Urban & Rural
The Social Work and Research Centre started a waste management project in Chhota Narena village in Ajmer, Rajasthan, in December 2016. The project aims to stop people from burning or dumping waste in the open and encourage better waste disposal. Greha ran a project in Z Block, Aya Nagar, Delhi, from July 2017 to May 2020 to find a better way to manage sewage and wastewater. The project created a simple underground drainage system that could be installed under the narrow village roads. The wastewater was then treated using biodigesters and a natural treatment system.
Best Financial Accessibility Model in Sanitation
Annapurna Finance runs the SWASTH initiative across 12 states in India. It provides loans to rural and semi-urban families, especially women, for toilets, water connections, borewells, septic tanks and drinking water facilities. Pahal Financial Services started the WASH Loans initiative in March 2019 across seven states. The programme provides loans of around Rs 20,000 to Rs 66,000 for needs such as toilets, piped water connections, water storage, tube wells and hand pumps.
Special Recognition Award for Government: Urban and Rural
The Government of Odisha started the Garima Scheme under the leadership of Shri G Mathi Vathanan, Chairperson of WATCO. The scheme focuses on the safety, health and dignity of core sanitation workers. It provides workers with safety equipment, health and life insurance, better wages, housing support, education benefits and financial help in case of accidents.
Best Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) Models
Dhenkanal Municipality started the “Leveraging Urban FSSM Infrastructure & Services for Urban-Rural Integration” initiative with 17 nearby Gram Panchayats. The idea was to use the city’s existing sanitation facilities to help rural households instead of building new facilities. The programme now covers almost all rural households in these 17 villages.
Best Skilling Initiative for Sanitation
National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) started the Sanitation Capacity Building Platform (SCBP) to train government officials on safe sanitation and faecal sludge management (FSSM). The programme helps officials learn how to plan, design and manage sanitation systems, especially in places without sewer networks. It works across 500 towns in 17 states and has trained more than 5,000 government officials.
Excellence on Work for Upliftment of Sanitation Workers
Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) runs the Sanitation Workers’ Safety and Welfare Project in Trichy and Periyanayakam Palayam (PNP), Coimbatore. The project focuses on improving the health, safety and working conditions of sanitation workers. So far, more than 3,000 sanitation workers in Trichy and 800 workers in PNP have benefited from the project.
Women Changemakers in Sanitation
Susri Seetal Bastia, Secretary of Bahucharamata Transgender SHG, leads the operation and maintenance of a Septage Treatment Plant (SeTP) in Cuttack, Odisha. The initiative gives transgender and women’s self-help groups (SHGs) opportunities to manage sanitation services and earn a regular income.
Watch: Ayushmann Khurrana On Why Health and Our Environment Must Always Come First
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
