We are more closely connected to the invisible than to the visible

We are more closely connected to the invisible than to the visible and that we proved during these testing times when everyone has to come together to fight this invisible enemy. 

Sumer Kumar Prajapati is our operator of the Jal Jeevan Kendra in Deora Mir, UP, adopted by IndusInd Bank under Hinduja Foundation initiative to provide safe drinking water to its community.

When the national lockdown was announced, our operator not only delivered his job right but also come forward to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring the villagers are safe.

He would clean the Jal Jeevan Kendra and ATM and educate the users about practising safe habits and take all the precautions for their well-being. He was proactive it circulating all the IEC material shared by Sarvajal in the what's app group of the village. 

He further extended a helping hand to his brother Bhim Kumar Prajapati, the Pradhan of the village for containing the village from the virus.

He shared "At the beginning when we got to know about the virus, there was a sense of fear amongst all of us.  Soon after the lockdown, we started sanitizing our entire village" "Andar bhi, bahar bhi gaon mai sab jagah chidkaav hua kia lagataar 3 din tak...”

Initially, the panchayat didn't have funds to provide food to the people. So under the guidance of his elder brother, he mobilized and collected funds for providing ration to 15 needy people who are unable to afford this situation for 3months. 

Shortly, soaps and masks were also distributed to all the villagers. 

He showed his responsibility towards the community in the true form at the right hour.

The Gram Panchayat is also actively taking measures for the people who came from the other village. They were made to stay in the govt school after the medical checkup with all necessary facilities. 

We can definitely see their seva bhav for their community. This is the time to stand together so all are safe and healthy.

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Saluting some of our unsung heroes

Vinod Meena is a Sarvajal operator of the Safe Drinking Water facility in partnership with HDFC Life. 

Vinod is also an active member of the Gram Panchayat and is enthusiastically working with the panchayat to enforce the preventive measures of COVID 19. He has been entrusted with the task to list the neediest families of the village which will be shared with the collector for action to be taken. 

With the start of April, the ration will be distributed to these families.

As he is a Sarvajal operator and works diligently with the community as part of his duties to raise awareness on water and health linkages, he could prepare this list quickly. He along with few others in the village is ensuring that everyone is comfortable during the lockdown period. He also helped distribute more than 150 masks in the village. 

Along with serving the community with safe drinking water services, he has been educating the people of the village on taking precautions and being safe. Information on Dos & Don'ts, correct ways of handwashing, using a mask and washing the utensils before filling water is being heavily promoted to the villagers of Gunawad, Madhya Pradesh.

Vinod also sanitizes the plant and ATM daily to ensure that he provides safe service to the villagers. 

In Vinod’s own words, "bas yahi chahte hai ki gaon tak ye bimaari na aaye, koshish kar rahe hai aur abhi bhi logo ko baar baar samjha rahe hai bahar aaye toh mooh dhakkar ya mask lagakar aaye. Goan wale kaafi satark hai aur shurakshit bhi mehsoos kar rahe hai."

Sarvajal team gives kudos to such heroes who are selflessly serving the communities.

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Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love!

When the nation announced 21 days of lockdown for the safety of all. A wave of uncertainty across the length and breadth of the country. There were a lot of mixed reactions from people!

In one of our village, Siya in Madhya Pradesh, where NFIL has provided the safe drinking water facility under its CSR initiative, our operator Dilip said, "It was that time of the month when many of the villagers were left with no ration so we had to take decisions which benefits all”.

Apart from sanitizing the Water ATM and machine, the village was also sanitized and people followed all instructions shared with them for maintaining hygiene and taking necessary precautions.

They were seen washing hands frequently, covering their faces and cleaning the surroundings. They also came forward to volunteer for helping each other in the village.

Some of the joint decisions taken included:

1) Landlords stopped taking rent of the house for the coming two months.

2) Villagers collected ration and prepared and distributed food for two days for needy families.

Dilip said, "No doubt, in the beginning, we were scared when we got to the news that the whole nation is shut. There was panic and the situations were unmanageable but glad that everyone came together".

As days passed, people got used to and conditions got better as Gram Panchayat could provide ration to many households in the village.  They could balance themselves emotionally and spent time at home watching Doordarshan and cinema.

Though the virus outbreak is difficult to handle but it has definitely made people more responsible and empathetic towards each other.

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The health of a community is a shared responsibility of all its members.

The health of a community is a shared responsibility of all its members. One such example is seen in Bimalpura, Rajasthan, a village adopted by Standard Chartered Bank for providing safe drinking water to its community. 

Usually, a bubble top with 20 litres of safe drinking water is delivered to the doorsteps of the villagers at a nominal charge to them for their convenience. However because of complete lockdown in the village, currently door delivery has been disabled so villagers come to the ATM to take water.

Shambu Dayal, the plant operator sanitizes the ATM regularly, marked a metre distance for people queuing at the ATM and encourages them to wash hands and their utensils before filling water. 

He is also sanitizing the village periodically under the guidance of Gram Panchayat. They have collectively distributed more than 700 masks in the village.

Panchayat is very conscious and sensitive towards safeguarding the health of all the members in the village. To spread awareness amongst the people, they have placed notices/precautionary information in all-important public places. 

Shambu appreciated the villagers’ efforts in following instructions of lockdown and seeking information on self-care at home. Everyone is home and cooperating with the Gram Panchayat’s and nation’s requirement. 

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Together we can win!

While we stay home to stay safe, the government is doing every bit to fight the virus outbreak. It has entrusted the responsibility of the villagers to their respective Gram Panchayat to ensure each one is safe.

The Gram Panchayat had made all arrangement to restrict entry into the village, regularly sanitizing the entire village and made provision to distribute ration, soaps etc. to the needy people.

Now, these are the usual activities carried out in all the villages. And lockdown is being followed strictly by one and all in the villagers and they only come out for essential things.

Safe drinking water is an essential service and continues to serve the community of  Kharkhari Village in Haryana, a village adopted by Sankei Giken Pvt Ltd. Bhagru Bhan, the operator of Sarvajal Kendra shares the situation of the village.

He has been sanitizing the plant and ATM regularly along with spreading awareness on practising safe and hygienic habits like correct ways of hand washing, cleaning their utensils before refilling water and covering their face.

While serving safe water he realized that the lockdown falls heavy for some, as they were daily wage earners who do not have money at their disposal now. So many of the villagers don't have money to recharge their water Atm cards. Bhagru Bhan realizes the impact of the service, he discussed with the Mukeshji, the Sarpanch of the village to allow the villagers to take water despite no balance in the card.

He made a list of such people for the Panchayat so incase the situation becomes better, they could pay. Mukeshji understands his responsibility and assured of making the payment on behalf of the villagers incase they are unable to do it.

In addition, requested the operator to continue serving the community.

The society needs such leaders and community helpers who care for the welfare of their people. They have proved humanity is the biggest service and stand above all.

Kudos to such heroes and salute their efforts!

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It is not enough to be compassionate. You must act - Dalai Lama

The national lockdown was the need of the hour with immediate action. Every part of the country saw numerous waves of emotions during this phase.

In one of our locations, Vindhnagar in Madhya Pradesh, safe drinking water facility blessed by NTPC, the operator, Sunil Tiwari knew what he exactly needed to do while abiding by the rules and regulations.

The Nagar Parishad had enforced complete shutdown in view of safety of the villagers as the situation was alarming.

There was no food and water available for many especially the migrant labours who were temporally staying at the govt school.

While the Nagar Parishad was arranging food, ration and other essential items, Sunil did not sit back. Since the permission to operate the plant was denied, he arranged for a private water supplier who gave safe drinking water to the village.

Sunil is a member of Radhe Radhe Seva Mandal, a team of 14 members working actively for the welfare of the community. This Seva Mandal immediately arranged food for 4 consecutive days for all needy people in the village. They utilized the funds they had and provide mask and sanitizers in the village especially to old people.  

Sunil is an example of saying it is not enough to be compassionate. You must act! 

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Not all heroes wear capes!

In the midst of nationwide lockdown, our frontline warriors’ motivation only seems to be boosting day by day as they serve their respective communities with dedication.     

Jivan Goswami is our operators of the Safe Drinking Water facility at Dhannad, a village in Madhya Pradesh, adopted by Standard Chartered Bank shares his experience on the current situation of his village where everyone in the village has only one feeling of brotherhood right now.

Apart from the plant and ATM being cleaned, sanitized and continue to serve water to the community, he educates the users to follow hygiene practices to be safe.

He appreciated the Anganwaadi and Asha workers who even during the lockdown, are constantly visiting all the households educating them to follow all precautions and along with the sensitivity of the situation.

On their daily rounds, they have been providing medication to the sick people so they can recover fast and prepare themselves for the coming days. 

Jivan draws some inspiration from these health workers so mobilized his friend's group comprising of 12 members to provide food to the neediest families in the village. Unfortunately, these families have no support or money to purchase even the most essential stuff. 

This group of young boys also provided food to 150 migrants travelling to their home village. 

On speaking to him, he says "Even the minutest effort counts if it makes a difference in someone’s life. We are regularly educating our people to take preventive measures and protect themselves and so our village at large". 

Such determined community helpers are braving these tough times with the wholehearted spirit of mankind.

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Nothing can derail a real hero

We may have heard many moral stories where a hero cannot be defeated come what may. It becomes delightful when we see them in real life.

Now when everyone is supposed to be at home to be safe, there are many of us at the frontline ensuring people in their houses are safe. It is because they are dutiful and understand the impact of the service that we are safe with all that we need.

Dhirubhai, our operator of Safe drinking water facility at Navi Mandardi, Gujarat powered by APM Terminals is a true warrior.

While he would sanitize the machine and ensure the safety of the users, he has gone beyond the call of the duty.  The submersible pump (which provides raw water to machine) got damaged because it burnt. As a protocol, our maintenance team and the Gram Panchayat were informed, as it would affect services to the community at this crucial hour. 

 

   

  

Given the circumstances, it would take at least 2-3 days before the machine is restored. However, Dhirubhai did not let the services be hampered. He requested two of his fellow villagers to help him manually fill 2000L water tank of the machine for it to be filtered for the users. The three of them fill water with the help of buckets and manually refill the machine – a continuous 4 hours job (twice a day) for its operation to be smooth ensuring machine operations does not affect the consumers.

Sarpanch of the village was also happy to see such dedication and assured of repairing the submersible pump at the earliest. He also supported with people from the village to help in refilling if required.

The efforts bear fruits of happiness when the remote monitoring device tracks the daily dispense of the location to see it outperforms the previous days.

Salute to such selfless heroes for walking that extra mile. 

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Humanity is the true religion!

COVID 19 has definitely bonded us more than ever before. During these times when we hear about the fast-paced spread of the virus. Many of us also take inspiration from the people who overcome their past differences to stand by each other and for each other.

One such story comes from one of our adopted village, Salasar in Rajasthan, which is known for its famous Balaji Mandir. It is believed that the drinking water in the wells of Salasar is due to the blessings of Balaji (source: Salasar Balaji From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

RPG Foundation under its CSR initiative has set up a safe drinking water facility in this village. Tika ram, the operator of the plant has been actively involved in spreading awareness for the containment of the virus outbreak.

He has been religiously sanitizing the water ATM along with educating the people about practising social distancing, washing hand and covering the face at all times.

Tika ram has been working very hard during these times and when we were able to contact him, he shared some amazingly motivating stories.  He shared that the Balaji Mandir trust came forward to donate 11lakhs for the welfare of the people here. Food and ration for 10 days have been distributed to people in the village.

He also described how during this time of adversity, the rival political parties set aside their differences to unite for the safeguard of their village. They worked in collaboration to ensure lockdown is followed strictly and people stay back at home. A significant contribution came from their personal funds to provide essential things for the needy.

The entire community has been working diligently to support and fight against the pandemic. Four tailors from the village kept their routine work aside and focused on stitching masks for the people and produced 5000 masks to give away free of cost in the community. 

The Gram Panchayat sanitizes the entire village every day and goes door to door for medical checkup of everyone in the village. The Sarpanch has left no stone unturned to ensure all the village borders are sealed and no one is moving out unnecessarily. He ensured police or home guard is at the border round the clock. He even went to the extent of telling his people to call him personally if they needed anything at all so he can home deliver. 

In the village of Salasr, Balaji is truly standing tall and strong to withstand the challenges of the present times.

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Health is wealth

Health is wealth is a famous proverb that has stood the tests of adversity. However, we tend to forget this adage in our routine life. Nature has its unique way to bring us back on track. Today, across the globe we have come to realize that the only important fact is the lives of our loved ones!! The national lockdown has got everyone to a standstill. 

The villages we work in are also living through the same experience. Each one of us has the same routine now. Stay home and stay safe. Wash hands frequently and maintains social distancing are the mantras that we are following religiously as a daily routine.

One of our IndusInd Bank’s Jal Jeevan Kendra under Hinduja Foundation’s initiative is one such village – Sohaniya, in Uttar Pradesh, which is operated by Amit Kumar and serving safe drinking water to its community every day even in these trying times.

The operator sanitizes the machine, water ATM and the neighbouring area thoroughly every day. He has been educating the users to wash their utensils, their hands and stand a meter apart from each other while in the queue to fill water.

Sarvajal’s team has shared IEC material for Dos and DONTs to fight against the spread of the virus. Amit has displayed all the materials at the plant and ATM location for people to read and be informed and careful. The village panchayat requested this information to be displayed at all prominent places in the village like the Panchayat Bhavan, Anganwadi centre and throughout the village, which has also been done.

The Sarpanch has sanitized the entire village and cleaned the village thoroughly. The village borders have been sealed and each one is monitored for their entry and exit to and from the village. The Asha workers and Anganwadi didis along with Amit and the Sarpanch are doing door to door visits explaining people not to move out of the house and take precautionary measures at home. They are educating people on how to wash hands, keeping the surroundings clean and ventilated at all times.

The Sarpanch has proactively converted all govt schools into night shelters for people who came from outside the village. The people were tested and even when their results were negative, they have been asked to stay away from the village for 14 days to ensure everyone’s safety. All the facilities have been arranged for them in school.

Frequent update of the village’s health status is being taken by the Gram Panchayat to ensure all are safe and healthy.

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Going far beyond the call of duty

This is the story of Bheru Lal from Banta, Rajasthan who had gone to Hyderabad for some work and was about to return when the national lockdown was declared. Bheru Lal is the operator of  IndusInd bank‘s  Jal Jeevan Kendra, a safe drinking water facility in partnership with Piramal Sarvajal and Hinduja Foundation’s Jal Jeevan Project.

Little did he know he would not get a chance to serve his community at the time of need because of state borders being locked down as a safety measure. However, this did not deter his SEVA-BHAV. When he got to know that safe drinking water facilities come under essential services, he called his wife and explained the call of duty at this time.

His wife enthusiastically agreed to his request to serve the community in her husband’s absence. As suggested by Bheru Lal, Roopa Ji quickly got a letter from the Gram Panchayat for seeking permission to operate the machine so that safe drinking water would continue to be served to the community.

On getting the required permission, Bheru Lal said, "I had trained her on how to operate the purification machine and follow all the instructions for running it. " ("Maine meri wife ko bataya hai machine ko kis tarah se chalate hai aur baaki sabhi zarurat cheezo ki jaankaari di hai ab woh sahi dhang se saare kaam kar rahe hai").

Our Soochak, a PLC based device installed in each of our purification units, provides a step by step operation instructions guide, helped the youth to operate the machine easily.

His wife and children with the help of swasthya vibhag of the village religiously followed the Sarvajal mandate of sanitizing the machine and ATM. Our COVID IEC material also acted as a guide to her and she ensures the users coming to take water also follow these precautionary measures.

She also ensures that the villagers cover their face, wash their hands and clean their utensils before filling water along with maintaining social distancing while standing in the queue. 

Roopa Ji has made her husband, Bheru Lal proud by keeping up the spirit of Sarvajal- come what may, service to the community must be provided. It is overwhelming to see her dedication and commitment towards the nation. 

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Charity begins from home

As the nation has locked down for 21 days and everyone is impacted only to ensure each one of us is safe!

Hadmatiya in Gujarat where APM Terminal has made safe drinking water facility available to this village has been no different in showing humanity to its people.

Sanitizing the village, neighbourhood and the ATM along with maintaining social distancing has become a norm here. While washing hands and maintaining personal hygiene is being strictly followed, most people are indoors and not moving out at all.

Amidst this lockdown, few sections are heavily impacted even for their most basic daily needs. The operator of the safe drinking water facility comes from a family that has been serving the community. He along with his elder brother who is the village Sarpanch have motivated some affluent people of the village to pool from their personal savings. These funds were utilized to distribute ration to 20 needy families of the village!

There is no movement at all in the village and all the shops are locked down. The village is containing each other needs to ensure the safety and well-being of the village.

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Leaving no one behind...

One such story comes from one of our villages Nimgaon (Maharashtra) adopted by SGS India Private Limited.

As soon as the word started to spread for containment against the deadly virus, the villagers became extremely alert. The Gram Panchayat started with sanitizing the entire village and immediately stopped movement of its people in the village.

It ensured only essential services were operational hence our safe drinking water services were permitted to continue so the village gets drinking water regularly. The machine and ATM are sanitized and users are encouraged to use a mask, wash their hands and clean their utensils properly before filling water.

Our operator in the village has displayed all important information including instructions on do's and don'ts, handwashing, maintaining personal hygiene and social distancing. The villagers have been practising these healthy habits as the Sarpanch is closely monitoring the villagers and their behaviours on the same.

The Sarpanch has been advocating precautionary measures amongst his villagers and assured them to complete support for all their needs. He has ensured both cash and kind help is given to the differently-abled, OBC caste families along with general villager. Cash deposited directly in the bank account and for records copies of passbook and aadhar card of each beneficiary is preserved.

It gives a sense of satisfaction to see how each one is being cared for while each one does its bit!

    

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Every Effort Counts!

While we see the global numbers increasing every day, the villages we work in have followed PM Narendra Modi’s instructions strictly.

Let's take you to a village called Bejnathpur in Uttar Pradesh where IndusInd Bank under Jal Jeevan Project of Hinduja Foundation has made safe drinking water facility available to this village.

Understanding the importance of this essential service being provided, the operator of Jal Jeevan Kendra has been proactively helping the Gram Panchayat in sanitizing the entire village. They have ensured each household had enough soaps, sanitizers, gloves and masks for self-protection. Ration made available equitably to avoid panic buying in the village.

The operator circulated the IEC material shared by the Sarvajal team to spread awareness amongst the community. He educated the villagers about maintaining personal hygiene by washing hands and cleaning their utensils before filling water. He sanitizes the plant every 2 hours and ensures people do not come in groups to take water. Social distancing is being maintained as he can specifically mark circle a meter away.

The villagers have also co-operated and responsibly came forward to declare their people who had just returned from any journey. The Public Health Center immediately conducted tests for these people fortunately they were negative.

Everyone in the village firmly believes in staying back in their houses helping contribute towards making their community healthy.

 Operator sanitizing the ATM

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