Piramal Foundation and Standard Chartered Bank collaborate to provide safe drinking water to rural India

Mumbai, August 17, 2023: A collaboration between Piramal Foundation and Standard Chartered Bank is transforming the lives of half a million beneficiaries in rural India through their remarkable water initiative, Piramal Sarvajal, and Enable Health Society. Spearheaded by a team that is 50% women and members of the Village Water Committee (VWC), the initiative has expanded into an integrated water management program that emphasizes water security and source sustainability across 123 villages and 25 schools spanning seven states.

The program has effectively fostered community ownership by establishing village-level institutions to strategize and oversee water conservation efforts. Decentralized drinking water units have been put in place, fostering collective action toward water security in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. With 417 women VWC members at the forefront of grassroots governance, the initiative has been instrumental in advancing water conservation, agricultural efficiency, and greywater management.

Nearly half of the targeted villages are situated in aspirational districts with low Human Development Index (HDI). The program has championed building community ownership around water resources by empowering VWCs in these regions. Farmers have also reaped benefits from this partnership with training sessions on agri-efficiency equipping them with vital farming techniques. Notably, they've gained access to government schemes for agriculture-related endeavors, amounting to a significant sum of Rs 1.9 crore. Harnessing technology to enhance reliability and accountability, Piramal Sarvajal has employed IoT to monitor 751 water solutions. This innovative approach allows them to track the conservation and replenishment of 2.79 crore liters of water. 

Commenting on the positive impact of this program on half a million people, Karuna Bhatia, Head of Sustainability at Standard Chartered Bank, India, said, “It is heartening to see that the Bank’s flagship CSR program, WASHE (Water Sanitation Hygiene Education), in partnership with Enable Health Society and Piramal Foundation’s water initiative, is working towards creating water-secure rural communities by going beyond just providing safe drinking water. Our engagement with the local community, especially women, and empowering them to adopt water conservation practices, reduce agricultural water use, and reuse grey water resonates well with the Bank’s commitment to creating long-term value in sustainable social and economic development.”

Sangeeta Mamgain, Lead Climate and Sustainability program at Piramal Foundation, said, “We are humbled to see the ownership of the community in adopting decentralized safe drinking water solutions and behavior changes for enabling water security. We are grateful for transformative impact our partnership with Standard Chartered Bank and Enable Health Society has achieved for half a million beneficiaries across seven states.”

The program's impact has been validated by a study conducted by Enable Health Society, showcasing a remarkable 76% reduction in waterborne illnesses among users consuming safe water. Furthermore, the data underscored more than a 61% decrease in medical expenses for Sarvajal users compared to non-users over an eighteen-month period, underscoring the tangible health benefits of having access to safe drinking water.