Maharashtra Village Social Transformation Foundation (VSTF) announced a unique initiative titled Swachh Maharashtra in strategic partnership with India SDG Trust & AquaKraft Projects Pvt. Ltd. The initiative was launched on February 27 by Hasan Mushrif, Minister for Rural Development, Government of Maharashtra in the presence of Arvind Kumar, AddlChief Secretary, Rural Development Department, Government of Maharashtra, Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, IAS (retd.), Father of CSR in India, Ramnath Subramaniam, CEO VSTF and Dr. Subramanya Kusnur, Founder Chairman & CEO, AquaKraft Projects Pvt. Ltd
Swachh Maharashtra is a great opportunity for Corporate CSR to come forward and partner with the Government in the development of the state. VSTF has been doing impactful work in the villages and this partnership with India SDG Trust & AquaKraft’s sustainable technologies offers a structured platform of rural development. While the launch Hasan Mushrif also urged all the Corporates based in Maharashtra to come forward and participate in the development of the state aligned with the UN SDGs.
Swachh Maharashtra, a unique initiative will be a first of its kind thematic pool created under the India SDG Trust to aggregate CSR from qualified Corporates. The aggregated Fund will then be utilized to create actionable and sustainable solutions in the area of Sanitation, Water Management, Community Health & Hygiene. AquaKraft will be the strategic partner where one side provide time tested & patented green/environment-friendly aligned to the UN SDG Goals and on the other hand be actively involved in raising resources through CSR and other qualified Donors. VSTF will provide the requisite permissions and on-ground support as an Implementation Partner of the Initiative.
Ramnath Subramaniam, CEO of VSTF said that VSTF has been at the forefront of rural development right since inception and has been able to create a strong impact through its interventions in over 1000 villages across the state. The journey has been truly impactful with the overall development evident at the grass-root level and a classic example Public-Private Development Model with over 20 corporates being a part of the VSTF. Swachch Maharashtra will leverage upon this experience coupled with AquaKraft’s sustainable solutions and India SDG Trust’s technical expertise in aligning with the UN SDGs.
India SDG Trust is formed with an aim to leverage the opportunity created by the CSR Act towards accelerating SDG progress in the country by steering corporates towards large scale impactful programs. It supports corporates to optimize their CSR and private philanthropic spend in alignment with India’s priorities on the SDG and also facilitate tracking and monitoring of CSR funds against their impact on SDGs. All charitable activities of the Trust focus to support one or more of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals in alignment with the nation’s development agenda.
Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee also said that Swachh Maharashtra to his mind is a unique innovation in CSR which enable Corporates to contribute to a thematic pool to do sustainable interventions in the area of Drinking Water & Sanitation in line with the Government of India’s vision of Jal Shakti Abhiyaan and aligning with the UN SDGs. The ground level expertise of VSTF and the green technology solutions by AquaKraft leading to livelihood creation is an ideal model for sustainability. He also requested corporates to take advantage of this platform and make a difference to the people at the grassroots.
Dr. Subramanya Kusnur, Founder Chairman & CEO, AquaKraft Projects Pvt. Ltd said that AquaKraft has been at the forefront in advocating sustainability right since its inception in 2010. AquaKraft’s Swachh Model, where Swachh is Sanitation & Water for Community Health & Hygiene is a result of extensive research across over 1700 villages in the last decade. Swachh Model aims to augment the Human Development Index (HDI) while aligning with the UN SDGs. The extensive work done by VSTF is commendable, as they have not only done a detailed assessment of the need but also have created village level Rural Development Fellows which act as a single point contact for all stakeholders. This enables the seamless and faster rollout of any interventions. Swachh Maharashtra is also blessed with the partnership of India SDG Trust which brings along a rich & self-regulatory perspective of none other than the Father of CSR in India.
