The Lighthouse Initiative commissioned by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation is an intervention for the sanitation ecosystem, to be implemented in a public-private partnership mode. It will be piloted in 75 GPs /villages across fifteen states in its first phase. LHI is based on the principle of Inclusive Sanitation and Leaving No One Behind.

The LIGHT HOUSE INITIATIVE

Background: In a bid to accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage and to put the focus on sanitation, the Prime Minister of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (SWM) on 2nd October 2014. Under the mission, all villages, Gram Panchayats, Districts, States and Union Territories in India declared themselves “open-defecation free” (ODF) by 2 October 2019, to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, by constructing over 100 million toilets in rural India.

Lighthouse Initiative (LHI) was launched to add to the SBMG and envisions to establish and sustain the selected villages as Open Defecation Free plus. The villages which would qualify as model Lighthouses would be used as positive examples across the country encouraging other villages to follow suit. Based on the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation’s (DDWS), definition of Aspiring, Rising, and Model villages, a WASH committee for each Gram Panchayat (GP) would finalize a development plan for each village under the said GP. The corporates pledged their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds and the government its infrastructure building funds to take this initiative to its logical and successful conclusion through a successful PPP (Public Private Partnership).

LIGHT HOUSE INITIATIVE-PHASE 1

The Initiative aims to effectively implement Solid and liquid waste management structures in the villages of the 75 GPs employing a participatory and consultative approach through mobilization of the village communities, Corporates, District & Block Administration and Village or Gram Panchayat officers to work side by side in achieving the Development Plan drawn up for the village.

This project is being implemented in 15 states across India. To lend their expertise and support to the initiative, 8 corporates signed up for this project. They are:

ITC- The states selected by ITC under the Light House Initiative-Phase 1 are: Bihar, West Bengal, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh. Few districts from each of these states have been selected for the initiative. The project is being successfully implemented in the States, districts and GPs demarcated in the map.

Light House Initiative -PHASE 2

Outreach programmes have been undertaken in Lucknow and Mumbai. Corporates and government representatives of States have come forward to understand more about the project and how they can fit into the

ITC- The ITC Limited is an Indian conglomerate company headquartered in Kolkata. ITC has a diversified presence across industries such as FMCG, hotels, software, packaging, paperboards, specialty papers and agribusiness.

JSPL- Jindal Steel and Power Limited is an Indian steel company based in New Delhi. JSPL is a part of OP Jindal Group. In terms of tonnage, it is the third largest private steel producer in India and only private player in India to produce rails.

JSW- JSW Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, based in Mumbai. It is led by Sajjan Jindal and is part of the O.P. Jindal Group. The Group's diverse businesses include steel, energy, infrastructure, cement and paints, across India, the United States, South America, and Africa. Ambuja Cements Limited- Ambuja Cements Limited, formerly known as Gujarat Ambuja Cement Limited, is a major Indian cement producing company. The Group markets cement and clinker for both domestic and export markets.

HCL- HCL Technologies Limited is an Indian multinational information technology services and consulting company headquartered in Noida. It emerged as an independent company in 1991 when HCL entered into the software services business. The company has offices in 52 countries and over 210,966 employees.

Tata Trust- Sir Ratan Tata Trust came into being in 1919 with a sum of Indian currency ?8 million. It is under the ownership of Ratan Tata. Established in accordance with the will of Sir Ratanji Tata, the Trust is now one of the oldest grant bestowing foundations in India.

Nayara Energy- Nayara Energy is a downstream company of international scale with prominence across the hydrocarbon value chain from Refining to Retail. Nayara Energy’s single site refinery at Vadinar, Gujarat contains a capacity of 20MMTPA, making it the second largest in India.

Aga Khan Foundation: The Aga Khan Foundation is a private, not-for-profit international development agency, which was founded in 1967 by Shah Karim Al Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, the 49th Hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims.

process. Dialogues and meetings are underway to engage newer corporates for the second phase of the Lighthouse Initiative.

Private Sector Engagement:

At PSE, we along with our partners create state level interventions, involving all the stakeholders, which include the Govt. bodies, corporates, the Financial Institutions, the Grass root level organisations. We analyse the challenges and gaps in a particular state and organise Roundtable discussions and Outreach programmes creating a platform for sharing of ideas, and find sustainable solutions to our problem related to WASH.