EA RESEARCH EXECUTIVE VIEW NEERAJ JAIN

The current government has demonstrated its political will to make India Open Defecation Free (ODF) by 2019. For this, the government is actively seeking technical, capacity strengthening, and monitoring support, which provides the opportunity and space to strengthen collaboration and alliances amongst WASH players

 

How has been the going for WaterAid India? What are the challenges that you face?

WaterAid has been operating in India for the past 28 years, and is currently working in 11 States of the country. We are well recognized in the country as an international WASH focused organisation with in-depth learning from global and local experiences. The organisation, in India, has good relations with the Central, and State governments, and is well connected at the grassroots level, through its NGO partners.

While historically, WAI has focused on direct delivery of services, in recent years the focus has been on empowering marginalised communities to realize their rights, building capacity, and ensuring accountability of governments towards the progressive realisation of these rights.

The current government has demonstrated its political will to make India Open Defecation Free (ODF) by 2019. For this, the government is actively seeking technical, capacity strengthening, and monitoring support, which provides the opportunity and space to strengthen collaboration and alliances amongst WASH players. WaterAid India has a definite advantage of being present at the grassroots level, and thereby can play a role in improving rollouts of programmes at the Block and District level in States, and use its learning from these initiatives to partner with other WASH players, and the Government for better policy advocacy.

India, however, also presents innumerable challenges, given that we have a limited amount of funding, a huge portfolio of areas that we would like to create impact in, and the sheer magnitude of challenges because of the geography, diversity and lack of capacity in the government delivery mechanism for ensuring ubiquity of WASH services across the country. There is also a limitation in terms of the limited number of NGO’s/CSO’s currently working in the sector.

Having said that, while there are multiple challenges, this is a great opportunity for WaterAid to be part of this life changing initiative.

What is your focus area and what is it that you trying to achieve?

WaterAid India plays a critical role in the WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) segment in the country and develops specific strategies targeting the poor and marginalised, for universalisation of these basic services. We also provide the much-needed linkages in water and sanitation planning at the National, State and District level, and help with technical assistance and capacity building for convergent planning amongst key sectors on water, sanitation, health, hygiene, nutrition and education.

Our endeavour is to focus on bringing about sustained hygiene behaviour change and toilet usage, by improving grassroots level analysis and application of a rights-based approach for integration of most marginalised like SC, ST, religious minorities, gender, people with HIV/AIDs, aged, disabled, etc.

We also try to provide hand-holding support and build greater accountability among policy makers and public institutions to make them more effective in delivering WASH services.

WaterAid India is committed to a WASH secure India.

We still have a long way to go to reach acceptable levels of sanitation in India. What are the industry and the government doing for this?

2/3rds of the population of people defecating in the open across the world are in India. Apart from being a shameful statistic within the context of India’s economic growth, this is also the cause of a number of diseases which result in mortality (largely of children under 5), morbidity and a vicious cycle of poverty and economic deprivation.

Swachh Bharat Mission is the flagship program of the current government and it includes the construction of 110 million toilets over a period of the next 5 years to end open defecation and ensure a clean India. The program has enormous potential to transform the lives of all Indians. WaterAid has been working in the sector in India for over 25 years but probably for the first time the goal actually seems feasible. There is no denying that the issue is massive and requires the full commitment and involvement of each and every Indian.

To give a boost to the programme, the government has brought the Mission in convergence with various schemes and sought financial and technical support from various bi-laterals, multilaterals and the civil society as a whole, besides asking corporates to undertake the project as part of their corporate social responsibility initiative.

In the past, the government programs have been largely focused on constructing toilets and not in catalysing a shift of mind-sets. As a result, millions of toilets across the country lie unused or if used, for purposes other than sanitation.

To achieve the objective of a Swachh Bharat, a lot more needs to be done. The government needs to focus on educating people on the importance of hygiene. All public awareness campaigns need to be sustained over time until the objective is achieved. Television channels must be encouraged to broadcast programmes featuring experts who can credibly explain the damage that poor personal hygiene and open defecation can cause to the health of all citizens.
The Government should also work to formulate conducive and definitive policies. Mandatory CSR expenditure is a great step towards getting corporates to start thinking beyond just financial bottom-line to include a social impact bottom-line.

Corporates have committed large funds. This is an important first step but they also need to bring to the table their managerial competencies and work in collaboration with the government and civil society to deliver accelerated social impact on ground.

What impact has the Swachh Bharat campaign had on the problem of sanitation in India?

The high decibel Swachh Bharat Campaign has in some ways caught the imagination of the entire country and the ripples can be seen at every level. The fact that this is one of the largest campaigns of the current government and it is being led by our PM has had a huge impact in itself. However lots still needs to be done. This is just a good beginning.

India’s record in providing proper sanitation is abysmal. Even in India’s cities, one out of five households does not have in-house sanitation facility, 2 out of three in rural areas. Sanitation and related diseases alone cost us Rs.6500 per capita with the largest burden being on the poorest of the poor. There are other issues related to equity and marginalization that further aggravate the disparity.

Amidst all this, launching Swachh Bharat campaign at such a large scale is a commendable move. Everyone in India as well as the Indian diaspora across the world has started talking about the issue. Indians now realise that they are dealing with a serious problem that needs immediate attention.

To give a boost to the programme, the government has brought in convergence with other schemes, asked corporates to undertake the project as part of their corporate social responsibility initiative, and sought help from the civil society, roped in Bollywood and sports stars and used media as well as social media effectively to create a buzz around the campaign.

The expected spend over the next 5 years on sanitation and cleanliness is pegged at over 200,000 crore. I truly believe that with all this attention, success is inevitable as long as every one of us plays our part in ensuring the success of the program. This is not impossible. We have done it before on the war against polio and we can surely make the 150th birthday of the Mahatma a memorable day in the history of India.

India Inc has pledged over 1000 Cr to the Swachh Bharat campaign and companies like Bharti are taking responsibilities for sanitation of districts/towns. Do you think this is a sustainable idea or something else needs to be done?

To achieve the ultimate goal of a clean India, the Prime Minister called for India Inc. to align with the mission of providing safe sanitation facilities to the nation. Soon after PM’s announcement, several Indian companies jumped on the Swachh Bharat ‘bandwagon’ and pledged over Rs. 1000 crore to provide sanitary infrastructure and facilities.

The involvement of big names and a corporate push on this agenda makes us hopeful that the issue might get addressed holistically this time. The involvement will also result in much needed funds to the sector which would definitely contribute towards the intended objectives of the mission.

However, for this huge goal to become a reality, we need an attitudinal shift to change deep rooted habits. Swachh Bharat may have started on a high note, but cleaning up the country is serious business. Apart from investment, it calls for behavioural changes, expertise and scientific knowledge.

Companies, both private and public sector, are scrambling over each other to build toilets but there are some major concerns around this becoming a construction program with no focus on other critical aspects like behaviour change, access to safe water, liquid and solid waste management without which the dream of a clean India can never actually be realised. Building infrastructure is a measurable component and thus it’s easier for corporates to show the tangible outcome for the money spent but true success of the campaign is in making those toilets usable.

The corporates need to take up more tedious task of first helping create a demand for toilets through proper hygiene messaging and then building safe sanitation facilities that people will use in the long run.

To make the campaign sustainable, there should be equal focus on other aspects like solid and liquid waste management, sensitising people about the importance of hygiene and technological innovations. The Government too is an important part of this program and corporates must collaborate with the government on ensuring sustainability of their investments.

A three way partnership between Corporates, Civil Society and Government is critical for the success of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Do you think that India Inc’s current focus on CSR is primarily a marketing stunt triggered by the government’s directive that companies need to invest a part of their profit in CSR?

India is probably the only country in the world where a percentage (2%) of the profits of a Corporation are mandated towards a CSR spend by law. This has become an issue of basic compliance and corporates failing to do so are liable to be penalized. This has clearly pushed organisations to begin thinking about CSR seriously and with the rules of engagement are being refined, they have no option but to comply.

Framing a strategic CSR programme with coherent deliverables that is aligned with the corporation’s philosophies is critical for high impact and sustainability of the investments. This is unfortunately often overlooked. Spending money on any cause is the easy part. The real challenge for organisations could lie in assessing whether their investments are really making a difference to India’s human development indicators or not. This is the reason why all corporates are ready to construct toilets and nobody has looked at issues like impact assessment and sustainability.

India’s CSR spend should focus on long term impact, rather than simply allocating funds to sectors.

What was your driver to get in the Social Development sector?

One of the major factors that drove me to move to the Development Sector was the need to make a real difference. I call it the beyond profit, social impact mid-life crisis I went through. It was a tough decision, getting out of the private sector with large pay packets lined with multiple perks. The question I had to answer was, ‘Is this what I want to do for the rest of my life?’ Subsequently, I connected with many of my friends in the development sector and tried to understand the unique strategies and operations of the sector and while a lot of this was new to me, I found a certain alignment with the larger strategic objectives of the sector and my own personal goals. I had been fence sitting for a while and felt the strong urge to actually be part of the action. Additionally, my wife – Ambita is a special educator and works on development of curriculum for pre-primary and supporting mainstreaming and integration of children with disabilities and the economically weaker section. She has always inspired me to think beyond the obvious.

I also found that while I didn’t know much about the sector, my private sector management experience was very useful to the organisation and the sector as a whole. It was a conscious decision taken over a year and a tough one. No regrets though. The sector has welcomed me in and I have learned a lot over the past 4 years.

Finally on an informal note, what do you do when you are not at work?

Lots actually. I have two boys, Kabir-7 and Uday-9. I ensure I get back home by 5 pm (I start at 8.00) and make it a point to spend as much time with them as possible before they retire by 8 pm. If there is additional work, I return to my computer once they have gone to bed.

Travelling is a very integral part of our life and we do at least 5 holidays a year each stretching over a week and two weekends each. Most of our free time is spent travelling together and holidays are planned well in advance and have been an absolute non-negotiable throughout my career.

I love to swim, read and watch movies.

Mr. Neeraj JainNeeraj Jain is the Chief Executive officer of PATH and was former CEO of WaterAid in India. He comes with over 20 years of experience across business development, marketing and strategic management in organisations across Asia and Europe. His experience spans the commercial as well as the development sector.
Previously, Neeraj was associated with Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) as a consultant for child development with focus on nutrition, early learning and child survival in the pre-natal period. Prior to this, he headed the Asia region for Vestergaard Frandsen, a Swiss company manufacturing water purifiers and insecticidal mosquito nets, primarily aimed at increasing the health impact against vector and water borne diseases. Neeraj has considerable experience working across multiple states in India as well as across the Asia Pacific region.

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