Swades Foundation’s Focus Is On Empowering Rural India

At least 55 per cent of the Indian population doesn’t have access to toilets till now. In rural India, cultural resistance to the build-up and disposal of excrement, and the view that going outdoors is healthier, is the major cause of rejection of the toilets.

To make India ‘Swachh,’ Swades Foundation which is founded by Ronnie and Zarina Screwvala donated Rs. 6 Crores in 2014 during the Banega Swachh India 12-hour cleanathon.

The organization operates with the single-minded focus of empowering rural India. Their mission is to empower 1 million rural Indians every five years and focusses on six verticals – Community Mobilisation, Water and Sanitation, Agriculture and Dairy, Livelihood, Education and Health and Nutrition.

Speaking to NDTV about Swachhta, Zarina Screwvala, Managing Trustee of Swades Foundation, added, “First, every woman must have a toilet. There are instances in villages that we have worked in where women have to wait all day, for as long as 14 hours to go and defecate at night, due to lack of toilets. These lead to serious health issues for women.”

Early in 2014, Founder Trustee of Swades Foundation – Ronnie Screwvala committed to build some 25,000 toilets during the Swachh India Cleanathon. Here’s what has been achieved so far:

Top 5 Highlights of the Swades Foundation’s Campaign are:

• The campaign promotes open defecation free societies in the 6 blocks in Raigad district in the state of Maharashtra.
• Better hygiene and personal care is the main motive of the campaign. Our strategy is to ‘Engage, Empower, Execute and Exit.’
• Swades Foundation takes extra steps to ensure safety especially for women and adolescent girls.