Health awareness & micro-utility services through retail distribution of mineral drinking water by women joint liability
Women in developing countries spend an average of six hours per day collecting water — time that could be spent learning or working. This project will promote hygienic practices for protecting children against diseases by engaging women in a revenue linked health awareness program that would be supported by micro-utility services for supplying affordable safe water to rural areas.
About You
Section 1: About You
First Name
Amrita
Last Name
Chatterjee
Website
Country
India, WB
Section 2: About Your Organization
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Organization Name
South Asian Forum for Environment
Organization Website
Organization Phone
00913324168104
Organization Address
B43, 2nd Floor, Survey park, Kolkata 700075 WB India
Organization Country
India, WB
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has this organization been operating?
Less than a year
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Your idea
Name Your Project
Health awareness & micro-utility services through retail distribution of mineral drinking water by women joint liability
Describe Your Idea
Women in developing countries spend an average of six hours per day collecting water — time that could be spent learning or working. This project will promote hygienic practices for protecting children against diseases by engaging women in a revenue linked health awareness program that would be supported by micro-utility services for supplying affordable safe water to rural areas.
Country your work focuses on
India, WB
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
Demand of safe drinking water never shows regression.Proposed model is a win-win condition in the given situation as it is sustained by local women entrepreneurship and increased demand of safe water on one hand while ensures empowerment, health consciousness and social integrity on the other.Principal sustainability factor goes beyond the fiscal benefits & encompasses aspects that enrich women health and human resource potentials. Women under the program would preach health awareness for retailing water and thus would practice the same for her child's health. This would otherwise have immense impact and sustained growth of the program. Perusal of survey reports from other states of India reveals a growth rate of 100-120 percent in the first two years followed by 70-80 percent in the consecutive years. The women in the rural area show an adoption of 30 percent initially which randomly increases to 65 percent within 3 months. The given situation and proposed project area would show still better response owing to the vulnerable socio-economic condition.
The idea is distinctive because this water sells at 20 Indian paisa (0.004USD) per litre. Open can water sells at INR 1 (0.02USD) /L & bottled mineral water/L sells at INR 15 (0.30 USD). This is an innovation model, not only providing good water at the price poorest of the poor can afford and also generating revenue through retail chain supply and distribution.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Tell us about the social impact of your innovation. Please include both numbers and stories as evidence of this impact
The significant impacts and socio-economic changes are as below:
a) Social Change
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(i) Attitude change in community to be measured in a six point scale before and after the installation of the project.
(ii) Formation of expected number of SHU and agreement for developing a water-cooperative out of these groups.
(iii) Community preparedness for environmental or health disasters in terms of disaster management groups formed, volunteers listed and dry-run made.
(iv) Capacity building measured in terms of number of beneficiaries trained and assessment and review reports from workshops held.
(v) Change in community behavior assessed through development of keenness towards education and health of infants (especially girl child), reduction in child labour and social abuse.
b) Improvement of health & sanitation conditions
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(i) Health awareness and improved sanitation conditions will be trekked through medical camps, vaccination programs, number of community sanitation units, attitude change towards use of safe drinking water etc.
(ii) Behavioral change and participatory approach of beneficiaries in community driven health programs like micro health insurance scheme, vaccination program etc.
c) Financial sustainability
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(i) Bank linkage and maintenance of personal savings account.
(ii) Percentage increase in per capita income through alternate economic opportunity.
(iii) Micro finance and soft loan issuance to beneficiaries for further growth and financial sustainability.
Problem: Describe the primary problem(s) that your innovation is addressing
1. Getting a low cost green technology water treatment facility for assuring better fiscal support to the women. the existing technology is little priced in context to the installation of the plant.
2. Surface water harvesting system needs to be aligned with the programme for better success. This would need convergence of resources.
Actions: Describe the steps that you are taking to make your innovation a success. What might prevent that success?
Significant steps taken by my organization to facilitate the project are
1. Negotiating for a low cost solar powered technology for water treatment and mineral fortification.
2. Monitoring the TDS of the product water for health as WHO standard withought compromising with the taste as that would be a point of community rejection.
3. The actual micronutrients and levels range per litre is described below:
a. Iron:0.3 m.g/L
b. Calcium:55-65 m.g/L
c. Soduim: 200 mg/L
d. Magnesium:1.0 mg/L
e. Zinc:3.0 mg/L
f. Fluoride:1.5 mg/L
Prime concerns for rural women here are anemia, weak bone & micro-nutrient deficiency especially in lactating mothers being addressed in water following WHO guidelines, helps in raising the TDS, required value. Fluoride 1.5 mg/L, is for sugar intake is very low in community, further, this prevents dental fragility and infections.
4.Increasing SHG training activities on soft skill so that the retail chain could be sustained.
5. Developing a monitoring body to assure equity and product quality by involving local civic bodies.
6. Resource mobilization and convergence for rain water harvesting programmes along with this project.
Results: Describe the expected results of these actions over the next three years. Please address each year separately, if possible
Project would provide WHO recommended safe drinking water to cover at the minimum 15000 households and would sustain 25-60 Self Help Units through collected user fees and micro-utility service charges by a retail chain supply of potable drinking water. It would help develop awareness about health, hygiene and sanitation, mineral nutrition for mother and child and necessity of safe drinking water for the family health. The model would comprise of an SHU cooperative having around 240 members who will be covered for group micro-health insurance facility. The project would expectedly assure an alternative economic opportunity towards poverty alleviation, spread health risk of beneficiaries, and bring attitude change in the locality for better living and lifestyle. The beneficiaries will have the social assurance to settle into a normal life from a traumatic fragile condition that they suffered as environmental refugees.
How many people will your project serve annually?
More than 10,000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
Less than $50
Does your innovation seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
If your innovation seeks to impact public policy, how?
Approximately 150 words left (1200 characters).
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for less than a year
Does your organization have a board of directors or an advisory board?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how partnerships could be critical to the success of your innovation
These partnerships would be critical in the following ways
1, Technology transfer
2. Seed grant allocation
3. Grant for soft skill development.
4. Supply of subsidized solar panels under national solar mission.
We would like to learn more about how your initiative is financially supported. Please explain your business plan/revenue model
Approximately 250 words left (2000 characters).
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
I was working in deltaic sunderbans after it was hit by Cyclone 'Aila'. I have seen the scarcity of water and while conducting the medical relief camp I experienced the malnutrition in the mother and child. The first thing that came to my mind was that the nutrient deficiency, especially micronutrients must be tagged to some object which is a bare necessity. whereas, the patients referred mostly about troubles or health problems related to anti-nutritional factors or noxious materials in drinking water. That was the time I thought that water should be the media for caring micronutrition and it should also fetch revenue so that community develops sponteneous interest in the supply and use of it. The same thing prevailed when I visited high hills of Bhutan where mostly women are anaemic and drink contaminated water. even in areas of east Kolkata Wetlands where the first plant was started the near about slums were getting water with arsenic contaminations. I thought even removal of antinutrients is also a value addition to the nutritional factor of water. Though it us said that water has no nutritional factor, but we all know bad water is much more worse than bad food.
Tell us about the person—the social innovator—behind this idea.
The social innovator behind this idea is our CHAIR Dr Dipayan Dey. He is a a renouned social worker and environmental activist. he is the recepient of UNEP Kasumiguara Award and was the Times of India LEAD INDIA Finalist.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Web Search (e.g., Google or Yahoo)
If through another source, please provide the information
ICRW
Does your project address any of the following barriers to women’s technology access and use?
Women’s time poverty, Social norms, Economic or institutional constraints.
If you checked any of the boxes above, please explain how.
Approximately 250 words left (2000 characters).
Does your project involve women in one or more of the following stages of the technology lifecycle? Identification of the problem the technology will solve:
If you checked any of the boxes above, please explain how you will ensure women’s involvement in each relevant phase of the technology lifecycle.
Approximately 250 words left (2000 characters).
If women are a focus of your project, how did this focus evolve?
The project focused on women from its conception..
Which type of women will your project reach directly?
Rural.
In what ways does your project team/leadership involve women?
Has your organization formed any new partnerships in response to this challenge? If so, with what type/s of organization/s?
Has your project leadership had prior experience with the following?
 | 111 weeks agoAmrita Chatterjee submitted this idea. |
