One stop shop and services: Skilling rural Maharashtra

Sapna, a WASHMitra from Chandrapur now frequently travels outside her village solving practical problems, breaking barriers and stereotypes while looking after Operation and Maintenance of toilets and marching towards earning more than enough to be financially independent.

She was trained as a part of the One-Stop Shop & Services (OSSS) WASHMitra initiative, a pioneering project that builds and brings together expertise by training people in the repair and maintenance of facilities related to water, sanitation, and hygiene.  It also collaborates with government initiatives, such as the Swachh Bharat Mission and the Jal Jeevan Mission.

"The training in Aurangabad allowed me to travel outside my district Chandrapur after many years," says  Sapna, while narrating her experience of being trained as an WASHMitra, which has now become a source of a permanent livelihood option for her. While the project has launched Sapna as an WASH Mitra, its effect has rippled into more and more people approaching her for work.

What is the OSSS WASHMitra initiative?

The OSSS WASHMitra initiative has been developed as a one-stop solution to address the growing demand for regular operation and maintenance of WASH facilities experienced in Government Schools and at the community level through the development of Young WASH Entrepreneurs (YWEs) as Service Providers in 14 districts of Maharashtra by Pratham, CYDA and UNICEF.

The project aims to develop sustainable entrepreneurial models to ensure functional WASH facilities in schools and other institutions, and at the community level. The project engages in multi-sector skill development where young individuals are transformed into Youth Entrepreneurs (YEs) possessing more than one skill.

Individuals from local rural or urban settings interested in working as entrepreneurs are selected and trained in plumbing, masonry, electrical work, painting, solar panel and water filter repairs, housekeeping and business knowledge, marketing strategies and on how to be a successful entrepreneur.

Phase I of the OSSS project focused  on building a foundation while Phase II aimed at improving WASH facilities through a COVID-19 lens, exploring investments and leveraging greater funding, creating an alliance to reach out to a larger number of beneficiaries and building the capacities of stakeholders. The ultimate target is to develop sustainable entrepreneurial models and eco-systems to ensure functional facilities in rural and urban areas.

Training of Youth Entrepreneurs (YEs)

Pratham and CYDA have been involved in this unique effort with UNICEF and Pratham has been responsible for two phases of training of Youth Entrepreneurs who help schools in times of need.  CYDA initially conducted a needs assessment survey of 23 schools in Maharashtra which found that the need for regular operation and maintenance (O & M) in schools was dire. 

Following this, they have trained 81 WASHMitras who took up O & M tasks for sanitation infrastructure of buildings such as water testing, aqua portal, electrical wiring, earthing, soak pit, watershed, solar installation workshop technique, plumbing, ventilation, small constructions and other related sanitation activities. They were also upskilled in the basics of entrepreneurship and marketing themselves.

After the training, WASHMitras  were initiated into applying their learned skills to the real world. To enable WASHMitras’ initiation, CYDA organised orientation meetings with the District Chief Executive Officers in Nandurbar, Nashik, Gadchiroli, Satara, Aurangabad and Washim. In other districts, the meeting was held with the District Education Officers. 

All entrepreneurs who finish training received a certificate of completion. They are also given toolkits that is helping help them to launch their businesses and set up their businesses to boost their confidence and enable them to pursue entrepreneurial ventures through skill building and development of marketing abilities.

Following the training, entrepreneurs can sign up for the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) with support from Government officials and those who have registered on the PFMS portal are given priority in seeking work within their area and are employed by local governmental entities such as the  Gram Panchayats, Zilla Parishad schools, water supply departments and also private organisations. 

While district administration, school management and gram panchayats have supported in coordination, government and private offices, commercial complexes, households and academic institutions have also played a major role in the success of this project. The entrepreneurs have also made use of the network of institutions of higher learning to widen their outreach and expand their businesses. YEs also use the WASH Mitra app, a dedicated platform for bridging the demand and supply of O&M work to secure more projects. 

 
Women's One stop and shop services

Following the success of Phase 1 of OSSS, Pratham and UNICEF started their first women’s One-Stop Shop batch in August 2022. Phase 2 of OSSS began with SACRED, an Aurangabad-based organisation that mobilised women and encouraged them to undertake training.

SACRED employs field coordinators to assist these entrepreneurs and also works with Pratham district coordinators to provide mentorship and for connecting the entrepreneurs with schools in the area. This project aims to help the women in Chandrapur, specifically in 13 blocks, to sustain their work in the long term.

Progress made/Outcomes

Mobile apps like WASHMitra have made it simple for YEs to connect with consumers and for customers to find skilled and dependable service providers who are also business owners. An effort is being made under the OSSS initiative to support female YEs in growing their enterprises by giving them some cash.

Till now, 113 youth from various districts in Maharashtra  have been trained as WASH Mitras in a diverse range of skills that will enable them to successfully start and run their own business. Of these, 43 are women from Chandrapur and Gondiya districts.

During the process, sessions on hand washing, electricity and water saving have been conducted with with over 1300 staff members and over 30,000 students in 300 Schools. 82 WASHMitra's have made a profit of over INR 21,94,921 in the past 10 months. A total of 6 WASHMitras have successfully registered at PFMS. A total of 40 WASHMitra have successfully registered at Jal Jeevan Mission Portal at Chandrapur & Gondia districts.

The initial phase of the OSSS project was completed in one year. The focus was on one block from each district and the WASHMitras who were assigned work were paid under the project, and the material cost was borne by the respective schools themselves through their own funds or provisions from gram panchayat, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds and individual donors for future sustainability. The charges for a single call service were fixed at INR 250 per 50 km. Monthly reports were also prepared to document the progress of the project.

After the initial phase, a call-based system was set up (as mentioned in Customer Care) and data and documents related to schools (clients) were handed over to respective WASH entrepreneurs who are now managing the project themselves. 

Future plans of the OSSS project include collaboration with other NGOs, WASH alliance partners and government organisations to strengthen O&M systems across all sectors. To achieve this objective, there are plans to train around 1,000 WASHMitras in a year.

The complete report can be downloaded from below: