4.3% Of GDP Lost Due To Inadequate Sanitation, Open Defecation: Divyang Waghela, Head- Tata Water Mission
The importance of adequate sanitation and access to water is highlighted by the inclusion of ‘access to water and sanitation for all’ in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The issue has also been brought to the fore by the Government of India through the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and associated initiatives. It has also been realized that the urgency of the situation demands the support of civil society as a whole- this would include a nexus between non-governmental organisations, for-profit enterprises and philanthropic institutions. In an exclusive interview with BW Businessworld, Divyang Waghela, Head-Tata Water Mission at Tata Trusts, talks about the interventions of Tata Water Mission across multiple spheres of water and sanitation, and their use of community engagement and technological innovation for provision of access to water and sanitation to urban and rural communities along with the importance of instituting behavioural change. Edited excerpts:
How is Tata Water Mission aiming to bring technological innovation in the water and sanitation sector to rural and urban communities?
Tata Water Mission’s basic mission is to provide drinking water services to underserved communities and although predominantly we work in rural communities, we are working on urban centres too. The reason we are working in the rural space is that water quality issues and the access to resources is skewed in the rural context. With regards to technological interventions, in India, we have both water quality and quantity issues. With water quality issues, we have water contamination and microbiological contamination which has a direct impact on human health, where rural people who cannot afford medical help. Considering that, we plan to work on making affordable technologies accessible to rural communities so that they can have access to safe drinking water.
Tata Trusts has been working with many institutions and organisations to ensure that global technology could be made available to Indian communities and providing it to the communities with whom we work. In that context, Tata Trusts has partnered with MIT, IIT Bombay, University of New South Wales, and some private sector players who have technological solutions available in the drinking water space. Currently, we have piloted alternative technologies that will address high levels of arsenic, fluoride and aluminum in drinking water. We are sure that these contaminants can be removed by this technology and that people will be able to get water at a very affordable price, which can range from INR 4- INR 10 per 20 litres. The pricing for water is important, and we are certain the local maintenance would be met by this- there is no motive of making profits out of it, but we want to make it a sustainable structure so whoever is managing the system can generate some revenue from it.
The second element which is more in terms of microbiological contamination is the bacterial water, which makes households highly vulnerable to water contamination. We try to provide low-cost water filtration at a household level which is effective and at the same time, easy to operate and have a consumer-friendly system for rural communities because in rural areas we find issues like electricity non-availability, non-continuous availability of water etc. How we can address those issues and look at non-energy intensive, low-cost solutions is what we try to bring the community. They should not be subsidized models dependent on anything, so we try to create a sustainable ecosystem where the community can become a kind of institution that provides these technological solutions. Those are the two areas we try working on technology: innovation and creating a community institution.
Why is collaboration the key in instituting change in the water and sanitation sector, and why is it important to form a nexus between non-governmental organisations, for-profit enterprises and philanthropic institutions for this?
Tata Trusts, being a philanthropic organization has finite resources to affect communities on a large scale. The issue of water has been an important one for rural communities, one where scale is needed to achieve sustainability. Considering that, Tata Trusts has formed partnerships with like-minded foundations; we work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the HDFC Foundation and many UN agencies like the World Bank and UNICEF to build synergy and work towards a common objective. This multiple pool of resources come together and can achieve a lot more. Individual organisations can achieve their own bit in silos but this kind of synergized approach can achieve more optimized investment.
It’s important for each player to leverage each’s other strengths rather than competing. In that context, one of the core focuses is a responsive approach. It means, what community need is important to identify? Rather than giving a description, we need to give them a solution. We need to have the experience of working with the community, identify the need and address how the solution could be provided to them. It’s important that non-profit organisations have experience in community mobilization, institutional building, capacity-building aspects. When it comes to the private sector, there are innovative strengths- and it is important how they look at competitiveness in the sector. For example, if we talk about costing and pricing element, the private sector has great experience in bringing down costs to achieve scale. Bringing the cost of water low is one of the major objectives in making it affordable for communities. In terms of innovation in any approach in terms of supply chain, outreach, technology or financing and other strengths the private sector brings in, it is important to see that it becomes sustainable in nature. The reason the government, private foundations or philanthropic organisations have limited resources to reach out to the needs of the people considering we want a sustainable solution, the private sector has to be a part of the ecosystem where they can play an effective role in meeting a social need.
When we talk about new innovations, philanthropic organisations provide the best solutions to ideate, innovate and pilot-if we can do that, and if we can bring in various players in the implementation, and then make it available to the larger community. The above three institutions play an important role in complementing each other’s strengths. Last but not the least- the government is the most crucial player in the system. Any intervention by a foundation or a non-profit organization can take it to one level in a limited geography but when we talk about the government, which is physically an accountable institution to provide these solutions on the biggest scale. Whatever learnings have emerged from the interventions can be used for quality influence where the government can adopt it and introduce it in a mainstream manner since they have the resources, mechanism and systems which will ensure this can be mainstream across geographies.
How is Tata Water Mission providing technical assistance to the Swachh Bharat Mission at the centre, state and district level?
In response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to action to support Zila Swachh Bharat Preraks (ZSBPs), Tata Trusts, a key development partner of the Swachh Bharat Mission program and one of the leading philanthropic organizations in the country extended its support through the appointment of 600 ZSBPs, as an expansion of Tata Water Mission, the Trusts’ flagship Water and Sanitation program (WASH). India has 600 odd districts and when the project started, there were around 30-50 districts that were open defecation free. In each district, the district collector or district magistrate is the core individual to monitor such programme implementations. However, since he has other priorities, he couldn’t provide dedicated time and effort to this programme. The concept is if we can use one young professional, full of ideas energy, can be deputed with the district collector, this will help the collector identify the gap areas by doing primary and secondary analyses.
Tata Trusts has deputed these professionals across India-one per district and help the district collector to identify gaps, divulge innovative ideas for implementation and monitoring and evaluation of the ideas- whether the right communities were being reached and the expected outcomes were being delivered. This has been useful for district collectors. Tata Trusts offers technical assistance to the Government of India. We have key professionals from IIM, management graduates who work with the Secretary of Sanitation. They are providing strategic technical and management support to the Secretary in terms of monitoring this programme effectively. These are the two levels of work we have done. We are also developing a policy guideline on solid-liquid resource management. The one target of open-defecation free we have achieved, the next challenge is a solid-liquid waste, where there is the need for a policy guideline which will help the Government of India. For that, Tata Trusts is providing technical support to the Government of India and at the state level, the Trusts is supporting behavioural change communication (BCC) in states.
The striking difference of this programme from the earlier programme is sensitizing behavioural change. The construction of toilets is important in changing the behaviour of the community, so they can adopt better services rather than depending on the government and build their own toilet, which they can use and maintain regularly. For that, it is important to do strong behavioural change communication across states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka. Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Nagaland and Mizoram.
How can the issues of water contamination, water stress and open defecation be addressed?
Water quality issues are being broadly addressed through technological innovation. Technology can play a bigger role in water quality issues. Water stress is more in terms of water resource management. Tata Trusts uses ponds, borewell, groundwater which need to be enhanced and is very much integrated as a part of the design implementation. We are doing the behavioural change component in spreading awareness to the local community in understanding the water security measures-we call it water budgeting. We measure this BCC through the day the community is trained to understand the issue of water in terms of the water they have available currently, the supply and demand, and the positive or negative standing of supply.
They need to ensure there continue to be water surplus and accordingly manage the demand, and if there is a water deficit, they have to ensure they can reuse water consumption by water efficiency measures, and looking at how water availability can be enhanced. Specifically looking at rainwater harvesting as a solution to the water stress area. For open defecation, we are involved in direct implementation by the construction of toilets through community institution. This means communities are eventually expected to adopt using and maintaining their own toilets, and in the long-run propagate this awareness within the community for more widespread change.
What are the economic losses to the GDP of India due to inadequate sanitation?
According to current data, the GDP losses for inadequate sanitation amount to 4.3% in the country due to open defecation.
Behavioral change is the core of any intervention in water and sanitation. So far, water and sanitation is considered a government responsibility, although it hinges on personal choice. There is a need for a shift in momentum for individuals to see how it is less about the government’s responsibility, and more for personal benefit to maintaining these behaviours. We work very comprehensively on the BCC front for the construction of toilets for all family members. Sometimes the toilet is only being used by the male members of the family due to cultural barriers. Secondly, the Trusts observes how the handwashing behaviour can be improved at a critical time as another focus area. Additionally, before drinking water, the household should ensure it is properly purified.
We operate on these three elements for BCC with a comprehensive scientific approach to identifying which behaviour would be triggered for sending this message. We identify what single element could be used to design a single strategy for all. Behavioral change studies produced interesting findings that if we can work with a positive message as a core focus, we will be able to influence the wider community to trigger behaviour change. BCC is a very important objective in the water and sanitation space to change practices and aiming to influence them positively.
How is Tata Water Mission aiming to create a market for WASH by empowering entrepreneurs, rural sanitation market etc.?
We found that the Women Federation involved in the Tata Water Mission can play the role of an aggregator and accordingly, supply material for constructing toilets and reduce the transactional cost substantially so that people get access to the material for a much lower price. The federation can reduce construction cost and make the process faster; those are good quality outputs since it has aggregated demand and they ensure minimum quality is met by suppliers. Women Federation emphasizes how they are able to support an enhanced quality of life, of which water and sanitation has a part. It is linked with dignity and privacy aspects and these women took up a challenge and started working as rural entrepreneurs who continued this work. This big shift from them signified the start of rural entrepreneurship, which conventionally was not a part of their job. That is one element of rural entrepreneurship.
In terms of water entrepreneurs, we realized that in India due to diverse water quality issues, a lot of technological relations are required. It becomes difficult to go to each village and maintain the project for a long time. We aim to create a social entrepreneur who spends time in a village ensuring this, and additionally if he has the skills and will earn an income from it, we strive to identify these individuals and provide them with a soft loan for them to set up water purification systems in those villages. For support, they are trained for a minimum period of 6 months to 1 year. They then ensure water, which is the largest mandate of the Trusts, is brought to the community at an affordable price, and they are gaining a livelihood opportunity from it. It is important to replicate the model of water entrepreneurship, which is what Tata Trusts is continuing to do through capacity-building and training levels.
