How did Socio-Change come into being?

India’s water availability is running dry. 48.6% rural households and 28% urban households are without access to an improved source of drinking water throughout the year. We at Socio-Change are on a path to rejuvenate water amenities, run-down by lack of monitoring, in the rural areas.

In October 2018, in a small social setting we met the CEO of Deshpande Foundation where we heard about the amazing work they were doing in rural parts of North Karnataka. This triggered our desire in contributing in our own ways to the good job they were doing. Our first visit to the foundation headquarters in Hubbali, Karnataka was a very memorable experience that is embedded in our memories forever.

One of the agenda items was a visit to a small village and their associated hospital. In the village, we saw the villagers fetch water from the lake in cans that were being towed in carts. When we asked them what the water was being used for, we were shocked that they used this as drinking water and regular usage water – the source being an open lake where activities like washing clothes, washing their cattle were also being done. This situation was quite strange to us as around 50 steps away from the lake, was a RO filter.

After speaking to the Panchayat and the villagers, we realised that the villagers had resorted to consuming lake water as the RO filter consistently broke down. A few also they had been consuming lake water for so long that they felt there was no need for an alternative drinking water source.

We spoke to the district doctor as well as a teacher on their professional perspective on the neglect of the RO filters. Through these discussions, we found that a large number of villagers suffered from water borne diseases like diarrhoea, yellow teeth and the schools had only 50% attendance on good days due to many children staying back as they were ill.

We realised that the need of the hour was not just a device to ensure the RO filer was monitored continuously but rather a holistic solution. Our current model consists of three parts- an IOT device, awareness programs , and fundraising model. Through the IOT device we have designed an efficient monitoring system for the RO filter; the awareness programs aim at encouraging the use of healthier drinking water sources; while the fundraising model ensures continuity of our vision throughout the years.