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.
