CII to mobilise construction of 10,000 toilets through CSR by FY 2015 - 16
To strengthen the ‘Swachh Bharat’ initiative announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched ‘Mission -Sanitation of Schools (SoS)’, an initiative to work with companies on construction of toilets across the country. “As India’s apex industry body with a direct membership of over 7200 from the public as well as private sector and an indirect membership of 1,00,000 enterprises, CII will work with industry and the Government to make Swachh Bharat a reality,” said Mr Sumit Mazumder, President Designate, CII and Chairman & Managing Director, TIL Limited. “We have set up a mechanism to create awareness and encourage industry participation through our network of 64 offices in India, spread across 26 states and 2 Union Territories.”
According to recent UN statistics, half of India’s population does not have access to toilets, with the condition even more dismal in rural areas where around 60% of the population still defecates in the open. Poor and inadequate sanitation accounts for various health-related issues causing economic and social losses. It is estimated that 1.01 lakh Government schools do not have toilets for girls, 1.52 lakh schools do not have toilets for boys and a 1.64 lakh schools have dysfunctional toilets. Poor sanitation facilities lead to drop out from schools, especially among girls in the 5-14 age bracket. Retention of the girl child in schools has increased by 30% in schools with access to proper sanitation facilities.
Therefore, adequate and appropriate sanitation facilities are a pre-requisite for the socio-economic development of the country. Today’s school children will be tomorrow’s leaders, employers and resources and it is imperative to provide basic amenities to them in order to have a healthy, productive workforce.
CII was one of the conveners for consultation on the Millennium Development Goals post 2015 Development Framework and had organized one national and 24 state level consultations where around 723 participants felt that sanitation was a critical component in achieving the goal of reasonable, accessible, sustainable and responsible infrastructure for all.
CII will leverage its Membership across India to make ‘Swachh Bharat’ a reality. The initiative will be led by the CII Foundation, set up in 2011 to undertake a wide range of developmental and charitable activities and initiatives pan India by enabling industry. The CII Foundation will work closely with a specially constituted Task Force, led by Mr R Seshasayee, Past President CII and Executive Vice Chairman, Hinduja Group & Mr MV Subbiah, Past President CII and Former Chairman, Murugappa Group, for this initiative. The Task Force will work at the National, Regional and State level to promote and facilitate industry participation towards sanitation in Government schools. CII will sensitise industry to increase its participation through:
1. Encouraging industry to get toilets constructed to promote sanitation at schools: Companies which wish to undertake construction on their own will be requested to inform CII about their commitment in terms of numbers. CII will collate the information as well as track the progress and share this with the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) on a periodic basis.
- CII will facilitate identification of geographies in consultation with the Ministry of HRD and the State Governments.
- Develop a bank of implementing partners / agencies for industry to tie up with for construction
- Share existing models for further adoption
2. Encouraging industry to contribute funds to the CII Foundation for Mission Sanitation of Schools towards construction of toilets, create a mechanism of maintenance, periodic monitoring, evaluation, impact assessment & reporting. The CII Foundation will undertake: construction of toilets, create awareness on sanitation and create mechanisms for maintenance.
- This will be carried out with the pool of funds from multiple donors (industry members)
- The identification of geographies and assessment of needs will be done in consultation with the Ministry of HRD and State Governments.
3. Encouraging industry to participate in developing innovative design & technology which is adaptable to the local needs, environmental friendly, cost effective, scalable and replicable: Innovative designs / technology will be invited and collated, especially in areas such as water management, a critical factor in the success of this initiative. These will be shared with the Ministry of HRD, state Governments and the members.
- The Government may further create a panel of experts and validate them for further use.
- Members may also explore the possibilities of adopting innovative designs / technologies in their preferred geographies and document their success.
- The CII Foundation will test the designs / innovative technology and document the success
4. Recognising companies who have done exemplary work through a ‘Leader Board’ and this will done both online and through offline fora.
5. Encouraging industry to contribute to the Swachh Bharat Kosh: those companies which wish to directly contribute to the Swachh Bharat Kosh set up by the Government, will be encouraged to do so.
The CII Foundation will share commitments made by industry with the Ministry, track and progress, evaluate and also recognize the contribution of companies to ‘Mission SOS’.
CII will mobilise construction of 10,000 toilets in the First Phase, which is, by the end of fiscal year 2015-2016. Based on the feedback received and assessments on ground, in the next 6 months, CII will announce targets for the second phase. Currently, it is estimated, that per unit cost of construction (toilet block for girl + toilet block for boys) will range from rupees 2 – 5 lakhs, depending on availability of water, sewerage, etc
The States that will be covered in the first phase include Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Kerala (20 states).
CII is happy that Industry has been very responsive with several companies such as TCS, Coal India and Bharti Foundation already having committed to take forward the ‘Swachh Bharat’ initiative, and many others are on the anvil. “With greater emphasis on structured CSR from this year, companies are keen to increase their engagement through specific projects and we expect industry to wholeheartedly support and participate in the ‘Swachh Bharat’ initiative”, said Mr Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Chairman, CII National Council on CSR & Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises
About the CII Foundation and CII’s Work in the Area of Corporate Social Responsibility
The CII Foundation was set up by CII in 2011 to undertake a wide range of developmental and charitable activities and initiatives pan India by enabling Industry for infusing inclusive development.
CII Foundation works towards inclusive development by providing a meaningful bridge between marginalised communities and donors, specially corporates by providing strategic guidance on CSR and developing and managing high impact programmes.
The focus areas of the Foundation include: Gender Equality and Women Empowerment & Safety; Education; Skilling, Employment and Livelihoods; Environment Sustainability, including water; Public Health & Sanitation; and, Disaster Management.
In this effort, the Foundation works together with corporates, governments, communities, and civil society institutions to channelise their collective resources towards social and community development. Over the last three years, the CII Foundation has undertaken various projects with corporate sector support in the areas of skill development, child development and maternal health, water conservation, disaster relief and rehabilitation etc.
Extending its agenda beyond business, CII assists industry to identify and execute corporate citizenship programmes. Partnerships with civil society organizations carry forward corporate initiatives for integrated and inclusive development across diverse domains including affirmative action, healthcare, education, livelihood, diversity management, skill development, empowerment of women, and water, to name a few.
New Delhi
1st October 2014