Ludhiana, August 20, 2015: In the first week of August 2015, The Mahindra Group successfully implemented its promised Swachh Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya (SBSV) program when it completed construction of toilet blocks in schools at 1171 locations earmarked for this purpose by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).
“The Mahindra Group has completed its target and handed over 3784 toilets under the Swachh Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya (SBSV) Program. These toilets are spread over 1171 locations across 11 states and 104 districts,” said Rajeev Dubey, Group President (HR & Corporate Services) and Member of the Group Executive Board, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. “In addition, over and above the target, we are in the process of handing over a further 556 toilet units over the next few days, which will make a grand total of 4340 toilet units.”
Swachh Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya is the national campaign driving ‘Clean India Clean Schools’. A key feature of the campaign is to ensure that every school in India has a set of functioning and well maintained water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.
The uniqueness of the Mahindra approach is that many of these toilets are in a block configuration model, generally consisting of 5 individual units, are located in girls’ schools and address the special needs of children and the differently abled. The majority of the toilets are in rural India, and special care has been taken to find customized solutions which take into account the requirements of the location with maximum utilization of locally available human and material resources. The toilet blocks also incorporate eco-friendly wastewater disposal and efficient use of water in the toilets.
“We are very happy that we could bring engineering, technical and execution excellence to complete this project, and we are committed not only to maintain these toilets for the next one year but to also create the necessary awareness, mindset shift and ownership by the school children and staff to ensure proper and sustained usage and upkeep of the facilities that we have created,” added Mr. Dubey.
Mahindra will also undertake a hygiene awareness campaign amongst the students and teachers, with basic tenets for hygiene and upkeep incorporated in planning, design and engineering. The toilet blocks will also be equipped with graphics and visuals depicting key hygiene practices and measures.
Date:
Thursday, August 20, 2015