Kharsan, Rajasthan Adopted by Standard Chartered Bank
Kharsan village in Bhinder,Udaipur,Rajasthan has a population of 2905 people with about 655 households. The people live a simple life and earn their living by farming and other family businesses. Village literacy rate is 66.3% and people have a monthly income ranging from 5000 to 15000.
Our team conducted baseline survey to dipstick the awareness and perception of drinking water and related habits. People based ‘taste’ of water as a parameter for quality of water. They had salt deposits on their utensils, they felt TDS and acidic contamination was a major impurity in their water. They were dependent on groundwater with average TDS of 2100ppm as source of drinking water so joint pains and discoloration of teeth were highly common. Some of them used had domestic RO or purchased from private vendors at Rs 15/- for 20 litres. 97% (31/32 households) of the people expressed dissatisfaction over quality of water and need for safe drinking water.
Partnership:
Standard Chartered Bank under their CSR initiative adopted 17 villages across 7 states in India to provide access to safe drinking water to these villages. One such village is Kharsan, Rajasthan where in 2017 a 500lph machine with water ATM was installed to serve safe drinking water to the villagers.
How to become a Sarvajal Customer:
A customer has to get a RFID card from our Sarvajal Kendra then recharge with the operator for ongoing use. Our team made 254 members card and till date 599801.3 liters of water has been dispensed.
How to use the RFID card:
Step 1: Place the card on the screen of the ATM.
Step 2: The balance of the card and TDS of the water is displayed.
Step 3: He chooses to withdraw water as per his wishes as our ATM allow flexible dispensing and pays only for water taken by him.
Changes after the intervention:
A midline survey was done in 2018 showed that
• 44% of the population has been fetching water from more than a year.
• Among 16 households, 56% of them shared that they have experienced reduced in medical expenses
• 69% of households have lesser number of water borne diseases.
• Drinking water from Sarvajal Kendra was also a matter of pride for the consumers that have been surveyed.
• They acknowledged the importance of the water quality as it is beneficial to them.
The Operator’s Voice:
“There are more than 253 cards; I consider this as Sewa ; Agar kisi bhi vajah se atm is pani nahi milta hai toh mein Seva ke taur pe aise hi pani de dete hu, log 800meter door se bhi aate hai paani lene toh unko aese khaali nahi jaane dete” – Operator Radhe Shyam
“As the sarvajal Kendra closeby my house I go and fetch water at any time in a day. Three years back a team came from Delhi to conduct research on water, later the reports came and the percentage of acid and fluoride was high. After knowing this, my family decided to take water through RO tankers from Kheroda Village (near to Kharsan) for 15 lts for 20 Rs. Now, ever since Sarvajal Kendra is in our village, it’s easy to go and take water. I have relief from joint pain and acidity”
–Shaanta Manariya, Home Maker.
She has done 425 transactions of 4198.1 Litres till date (Data from SEMS; Sarvajal Enterprise Management System).
“We take Sarvajal Water even though we have a borewell at home as it tastes good” –Rekha ji ( 169 transactions of 2071.9 Liters till date)
“We get water from the Sarvajal plant as most of us find domestic RO very expensive”– Vipul Manera (636 transactions of 7397.3 Liters till date)
“When we got to know from the people that the quality of water is good, it motivated us to take water from Sarvajal plant.We take water everyday and have seen health improvements in my family” – Shyam Lal (617 transactions of 8792.5 Litres till date)
“We use filtered water from panchayat(Sarvajal) machine for our drinking purpose only. I realized that my constant painful joints have relived after continuous use of Sarvajal.However we use borewell water for cooking as the water gets boiled while cooking the food; Khana banate waqt ubal jaata hai toh usme hi kaam le lete hai, Kitaanu bhi hat jaate hai”- Suresh’s wife (342 transactions of 4756.4 Liters till date)
”We trust our Operator; he is the one who is serving every one of us. Some of us cannot afford domestic RO so use of this service at an affordable price is the best thing about your service.” - Ishwar Lal and Nana Lal
SEMS data showing a monthly pattern of liter dispensed on a daily basis
Our internal impact assessments have showed:
• Marked difference in the behaviors of the people towards drinking water.
• Our community engagement activities of safe drinking water facilities have created awareness amongst the people.
• They appreciate the price at which it is made available to everyone.
• The card recharge is extremely easy and found facility clean and hygienic managed by a friendly operator.
This intervention is changing the health of the community as 44% people moved to safe drinking water practices from more than a year because of health benefits and overall improvement in their quality of life. Water is precious and the people of this village are sensitive to it. There is awareness on water conversation as 2 houses had rain water being harvested in a structured way.
