Subject category:
Production and Operations Management
Published by:
Indian School of Business
Version: July 23, 2021
Revision date: 18-Jan-2022
Length: 19 pages
Data source: Field research
Abstract
Access to clean water is so critical for development and survival that the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal number 6 (SDG-6) was to ensure availability and sustained management of water and sanitation. World Health Organization in 2006 estimated that 97 million Indians lacked clean and safe water. The case tracks the efforts of Huggahalli, head of the technology group of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations, to devise a sustainable solution to the problem in rural India that is low on cost, high on impact. They eventually develop a model that satisfies all these criteria and becomes the basis for a project called Premamrutha Dhaara. The project aims to install water purification plants in more than 100 villages spanning six states in India, with the ultimate goal of turning over plant operations to the beneficiary villages and setting up a welfare fund in each village from the revenue generated. Social service projects in developing countries, have their unique challenges. The case highlights the importance of performing feasibility analysis as part of the project planning in social projects. The case also describes how the financial and operational dimensions of sustainability could lead to a self-sustainable system.
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Abstract
Access to clean water is so critical for development and survival that the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal number 6 (SDG-6) was to ensure availability and sustained management of water and sanitation. World Health Organization in 2006 estimated that 97 million Indians lacked clean and safe water. The case tracks the efforts of Huggahalli, head of the technology group of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations, to devise a sustainable solution to the problem in rural India that is low on cost, high on impact. They eventually develop a model that satisfies all these criteria and becomes the basis for a project called Premamrutha Dhaara. The project aims to install water purification plants in more than 100 villages spanning six states in India, with the ultimate goal of turning over plant operations to the beneficiary villages and setting up a welfare fund in each village from the revenue generated. Social service projects in developing countries, have their unique challenges. The case highlights the importance of performing feasibility analysis as part of the project planning in social projects. The case also describes how the financial and operational dimensions of sustainability could lead to a self-sustainable system.