New Delhi: For NDTV-Dettol Banega Swachh India, the idea of building a cleaner and healthier India is not just about spreading awareness. It is also about recognising the people and organisations doing the work on the ground. One such moment came in 2017, when the first ISC-FICCI Sanitation Awards celebrated organisations working across different parts of India’s sanitation journey. The awards, presented by the India Sanitation Coalition (ISC) and FICCI, recognised work across corporate initiatives, non-profit programmes, innovation, financial accessibility and media. The awards were built around the idea that sanitation could not be solved by one approach alone. The focus was on the complete Build-Use-Maintain-Treat value chain. As the awards look back reminds us, there were several champions already working towards this goal.
Download The Full Report: ISC-FICCI Sanitation Awards 2017
ACC And TCS Led The Corporate Effort
In the Best Corporate Initiative in Sanitation category, ACC and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) were recognised.ACC’s Sampurna Swachhata initiative focused on creating open defecation-free neighbourhoods around its manufacturing locations. Its work included affordable toilet solutions, behaviour change programmes, employee volunteering and support for local sanitary pad manufacturing. ACC also worked on sewage treatment through Root Zone technology and committed to WASH facilities for employees and contract workers.
TCS took up sanitation in government schools, with a special focus on girls. The company had allocated ₹100 crore for hygienic sanitation facilities. More than 80,000 girls across four states benefited from the programme. The initiative also included regular cleaning, maintenance and behaviour change programmes. It created 1,543 jobs, including 1,475 for women involved in cleaning activities.
Community Work Was At The Centre Of The Aga Khan Foundation’s Model
The Aga Khan Foundation was recognised for its Best Non-Profit Model in Sanitation. Its programme worked towards block-level open defecation-free areas through a community-centred approach. It also connected sanitation with water interventions and used mobile technology to track household sanitation coverage and hygiene behaviour. The programme helped local institutions take ownership of sanitation work. It also helped ODF gram panchayats prepare for activities around solid and liquid waste management.
CDD Society And Svadha Showed How Innovation Can Help
The Best Innovation in Sanitation category recognised CDD Society and Svadha. CDD Society’s Devanahalli model focused on faecal sludge management. It built a town-scale treatment plant that was handling 100% of the sludge collected in Devanahalli. The model was seen as something that could be replicated in thousands of towns. By the time of the awards, 10 FSM projects based on the model were being developed across four states.
Svadha took another route. The social business worked with entrepreneurs to provide households with affordable and sustainable sanitation solutions. Its model covered different parts of the sanitation value chain, from building and usage to maintenance and treatment. The report noted that its work had reached more than 120,000 end-consumers through 330-plus entrepreneurs across three states.
Making Sanitation More Affordable
Grameen Koota Financial Services Pvt. Ltd. was recognised under Best Financial Accessibility in Sanitation. Its approach combined awareness, mason training and affordable credit for toilet construction. According to the report, 3.7 lakh customers had availed loans to construct toilets. The organisation had also conducted thousands of WASH training programmes, workshops, street plays and awareness campaigns.
And Then There Was The Power Of Media
The Media in Sanitation category recognised Down To Earth (DTE) and NDTV. DTE had created more than 360 stories on sanitation across rural and urban India. For NDTV-Dettol Banega Swachh India, the recognition was particularly meaningful. The five-year, 360-degree campaign used television, digital, outdoor, radio and print to spread awareness around sanitation and hygiene, while also supporting ground interventions and behaviour change. Seasons 1 and 2 had raised more than ₹281 crore and 1.16 crore volunteering hours towards Swachh India, according to the 2017 report.
Nearly a decade later, these names offer a useful look back at the many people, organisations and ideas that were part of India’s sanitation journey. And for Banega Swachh India, celebrating these champions is also a reminder of why sustained action, partnerships and awareness continue to matter.
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.
