Microfinance organisation Grameen Koota receives ISC-FICCI 2017 Sanitation Award

Grameen Koota, a Bengaluru-based microfinance organisation on Thursday received the ISC-FICCI 2017 award for Best Financial Accessibility for Sanitation for its efforts in providing access to affordable credit to its customers to build toilets.

Grameen Koota Director Sumit Kumar received the award from the Union Minister for Railways, Suresh P. Prabhu at a ceremony during the India Sanitation Conclave 2017 held in New Delhi. Naina Lal Kidwai, Chairperson of India Sanitation Coalition, Sanjeev Mehta, CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever, Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Founder of Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, Diwakar B R, CFO, Grameen Koota and Anshul Sharan, Head - Strategy, Grameen Koota were present at the ceremony.

In its award citation, the India Sanitation Coalition (ISC) said: "Grameen Koota has been recognised for increasing financial accessibility in rural Karnataka and Maharashtra through their three-pronged approach - Creating awareness among people in their operational areas, imparting training on various aspects of sanitation and providing access to affordable credit for toilet construction to needy Grameen Koota customers."

"It is indeed a great honour and even greater encouragement to receive this Award for Best Financial Accessibility for Sanitation from ISC-FICCI. The award makes us and our program partners proud to be associated with our work and we reiterate our commitment to carry forward our mission against open defecation," said Udaya Kumar, Managing Director and CEO of Grameen Koota.

"We are privileged to have been conferred with the great honour for our efforts towards achieving total sanitation and our alignment with Swachh Bharath Abhiyaan of Government of India. We have also taken a pledge to make all our customers free from open-defecation by October 2, 2019, on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary," added Vinatha M. Reddy, Chairperson of Grameen Koota.

With about half of the country still defecating in the open, the nation has a mammoth task ahead to make the nation Open Defecation Free (ODF) by 2019. The Sanitation Awards, initiated this year by ISC, aim at identifying and recognising the efforts of stakeholders in this drive, including implementation partners, corporates, financial institutions and entrepreneurs among others.