Foundation
Promoting Hand Washing in Rural Schools in Palghar
JSW Tarapur Employees Set Up Hand Wash Stations for Over 300 Anganwadis in Palghar
District of Maharashtra
Over last one year, our company decided to set up several new programs as part of its IDEA (Integrated Development
Through Employees Association) Campaign. These programmes are designed to address the problem of malnutrition in Palghar
District of Maharashtra.
Through IDEA initiative, employees of JSW Tarapur, participate in interventions in the CSR operational areas of the
company. With programs in the areas of health, growth monitoring and promotions, agriculture, sports development etc.,
this campaign is a win-win approach. While employees get to learn various aspects such as leadership, behavior and
capabilities development in challenging environment, the communities benefit from strategic planning, operational
improvements and communication and marketing strategies and materials provided by the volunteers.
JSW is proud of the impact and social benefits created by the volunteering of its employees. Strong alignment with
culture and values and a focus on skill development and learning, is one of the objectives behind creating the IDEA
program. The volunteers seem to understand the larger benefits of the company’s CSR initiatives, thereby helping them
re-evaluate the relevance of their own work and contribution, while also changing their attitudes toward their daily
job.
Let’s look at the recently launched Wash & Wash Malnutrition Campaign, which was devised and conceptualised by the
employees of JSW – Tarapur Works for Anganwadi Centers (AWC), located in the Jawhar Taluka of Palghar District in
Maharashtra. This case study gives you an insight into how our volunteers, staff and beneficiaries are transforming the
lives and changing communities across the company’s operational areas.
The Problem
Many Anganwadi Centers (AWCs) in the Palghar district don’t have a water tank, thereby forcing the helpers or
Anganwadi Sevikas, to travel a minimum distance of 1 to 2 Km, almost daily to fetch water for drinking and other
use. During summer, the problem worsens as the scorching heat makes it impossible for the sevikas to take on the
physically grueling task of carrying water to the centre. The absence of water either for drinking or washing
hands not only affects the functioning of the centre but also the health and life of the children (in the age
group of 0-6 years) who spend the whole day there. Global studies have shown that hand washing at critical times
such as before eating, and after using the toilet can reduce diarrhea rates by almost 40 per cent. In India,
400,000 children die every year due to diarrhea alone, clearly calling for an increased awareness on the
importance of washing hands, especially in AWCs, which are vulnerable to water shortage.
The Solution
Under the IDEA campaign, JSW’s employee volunteers, decided to raise awareness on the importance of washing
hands every day with soap, among the helpers and children at the Anganwadi centres, located in remote tribal
areas. Expanding further, the volunteers conceptualized, designed, and built Hand Wash Stations that were placed
at the centers.
Created entirely by JSW employees after an intense on-ground research, these stations were built in house: using
raw material supplies, good quality material for better durability, replicability and easy to use models. With a
storage capacity of water that would be sufficient for two days, these tanks, supported by JSW have saved time
of AWC helpers, at least every alternate day to fetch water and seen rise in demand from other centers as well.
Employees believe that through this simple initiative of setting up hand wash stations at AWCs, they could
prevent one out of four deaths due to water borne diseases among the children, who already suffer from
malnutrition.
The Impact
With the support from District Collector, ZP CEO, CDPO and all local administrations the initiative has reached
around 333 AWC’s of Jawhar Taluka, touching close to 15000 children. As one of the Anganwadi Sevikas explains,
“Most of the times children forget to wash their hands, so we have made it a point to accompany all of them
before any food/meal. In the long run, we are sure that washing hands will become a habit. Before we got the
hand wash stations at the centre, there used to be a lot of absenteeism because of illness, but now not so
much."
What Next?
The simple act of washing hands and building a better hygiene infrastructure at the Anganwadi level can help save
one third of children in India from diseases such as: diarrhea, intestinal worms, respiratory infections, and other
diseases that can be avoided by improved hygiene. Following the success of the first phase of volunteering,
employees of JSW – Tarapur Works have set a personal target to cover 1000 AWC’s in the Palghar district in the next
one year. This will not only help the company’s wider goal of eliminating malnutrition in the region, but also curb
the mortality rates in what is known to be one of the most vulnerable areas in the country. Further, JSW is going to
carry out a special study on Hand wash stations and its impact on attendance and change in health records or
reduction in water-borne diseases.
JSW – Tarapur’s efforts to spread the word on hand wash, are supported by the other line of volunteers from JSW
cement, who are working toward making water accessible for the villagers. While one is closing the gap on health
issues, the other is doing so by facilitating infrastructure to bridge the distance.
About IDEA
Since its inception in 2017, JSW has empowered nearly 30 employees from Tarapur Works to serve as volunteers
under IDEA. The program is structured in such a way that the CSR team holds a meeting with the employees,
explaining to them the initiative, gauging their interest and explore possible projects, which would be a good
fit for them to work in. The employees use their professional skills to create a positive and sustainable change
for the communities they would like to serve. JSW orients them to the field areas and the work is carried out by
the company, which is done either through need assessment studies and survey, or through open group discussions
with the gram panchayat / gram sabha or any specific group of interest. Managed by the Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) Head of JSW Tarapur Works, the current target of the program is to get 100 volunteers each
year.
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