'Swachata Hi Seva Hai' campaign organized by Kutch administration, Suzlon Foundation and UNICEF

Kutch, India: Suzlon Foundation, the CSR arm of Suzlon Group partnered with Kutch administration and UNICEF for 'Swachata Hi Seva Hai' campaign to promote clean, hygienic and healthy practices. Suzlon Foundation had committed its support during the stakeholder meeting held by the district administration. As part of the campaign, a series of activities were organized through the week in Kutch district which culminated on World Toilet Day. The campaign was held in 9 villages of 4 talukas reaching out to over 1,175 people. These included taluka-level workshops, interactive demonstrations, group exercises, flag march, transect walk, stakeholder meetings and school programs on various aspects of cleanliness, waste management and ODF (Open Defecation Free) sustainability to review the cleanliness in the area and enable behavior change. The activities took place in Khabra and Sinugra villages in Anjar Taluka, Kera, Kunariya, Purasar and Nana Reha village in Bhuj Taluka, Kotda village in Mandvi Taluka, Bhadra and Kotda Math villages of Lakhpat Taluka.

Shri Prabhav Joshi IAS, DDO, Kutch district, Dr. Jasmine Gogia, Senior General Manager, Suzlon Foundation and Mr. Biplap Shankar Dey, District Consultant of UNICEF were instrumental in the success of the taluka-level interventions across various villages. Mr. Dinesh Deshrajan, popularly known as the 'Toilet Man' from Bhopal was the chief speaker and resource person from Suzlon Foundation. The activities focused on strategies for Open Defecation Free (ODF) villages, use of toilets, Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLRM) and clean water and Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM).

Workshop at Anjar

During the workshop, Dinesh Deshrajan explained the concept of 'Kachare se Kanchan' (Gold from waste) and emphasized the importance of cleanliness. He described the importance of toilet with two pits and gave numerous examples of illness due to open defecation. A short film produced by the Suzlon Foundation named "Hook" about the importance of plastic waste collection and recycle of plastics in our daily life was also screened.

Workshop at Nana Reha Primary School

The program on ODF in Nana Reha village had the 'Toilet Man' Dinesh Deshrajan increasing awareness among the people of the village about the ill effects of open defecation and the importance of inculcating the habit of toilet use. Many people participated wholeheartedly in the program, taking an oath to keep the village clean and making it an open defecation free village. Girls and boys actively participated in the group exercises.

The flag march by the Suzlon Swacchata Dal saw the team visiting and reviewing the toilets as well as checking the sheds for safe disposal of wet waste, dry waste and the compost pits.

Shri Prabhav Joshi, DDO, Kutch district said, "The government is committed to Swachh Bharat mission that aims to eliminate the open defecation, converting insanitary toilets into pour flush toilets, eradicating manual scavenging, complete disposal and reuse of solid and liquid wastes. The Swachh mission has brought in a new culture through behavioral change among people and promoted good health practices by spreading awareness about cleanliness. Initiatives like 'Swachata Hi Seva Hai' help to spread the Clean India, Clean Kutch message and create awareness among people."

Dr. Jasmine Sofia Gogia, Senior General Manager, Suzlon Foundation said, "We initiated this as part of a collaborative effort to go beyond the Suzlon neighborhood villages. We are delighted to see the enthusiastic response from villagers for 'Swachata Hi Seva Hai' campaign to promote clean, hygienic and healthy practices. The campaign involved promoting sanitation programmes, workshops with villagers, cleaning streets, roads and changing the mindset to make our villages clean and beautiful. We are thankful to the Ms Remya Mohan, IAS, District Collector, Bhuj for encouraging corporate CSR teams to undertake meaningful collaborative programs. We are indeed grateful to the District administration for the opportunity to partner with them for this campaign. Suzlon Foundation has always endeavored to make a real difference to the communities in and around our area of operations."

About Suzlon Group:

Suzlon Group is one of the leading renewable energy solutions provider in the world with an international presence across 18 countries in Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. Headquartered at Suzlon One Earth in Pune, India; the Group is comprised of Suzlon Energy Limited (NSE & BSE: SUZLON) and its subsidiaries. A vertically integrated organization, with over two decades of operational track record, the Group has a cumulative installation of over 18 GW of wind energy capacity, over 7,500 employees with diverse nationalities and world-class manufacturing facilities. Suzlon is the only Indian wind energy company with a large in-house Research and Development (R&D) set-up in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and India. Over 12 GW of the Group's installations are in India, accounting to ~35% of the country's wind installations, thus making Suzlon the largest player in this sector. The Group is the custodian of over 12 GW of wind assets under service in India making it the second largest Operations and Maintenance Company (over 8,000 turbines) in the Indian power sector. The Group also has around 4 GW of wind assets under service outside India.

Suzlon corporate website: www.suzlon.com