Rohini Nilekani, chairperson of Arghyam was in Goa to attend the INK conclave which concluded recently. VIKANT SAHAY met with this former journalist and now wife of Nandan Nilekani, former chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, to understand how she is helping conserve the groundwater in India
HERALD: How did it all begin and what prompted you to set up Arghyam?
ROHINI NILEKANI: It was started in 2001. Arghyam in Sanskrit means offering. In 2001 I had some money and started learning how to do philanthropy but in 2005 I sold some shares of Infosys and I decided to use it for Arghyam and then we had a much more strategic focus and we decided to focus on water. Those days there were no Indian philanthropic organisation which would focus on water conservation.
HERALD: So what was your strategy and focus?
RN: We decided that we would first focus on lifeline water that is water for drinking, water for your basic livelihood, water for cattle but mainly for your health. As we started to study we saw that despite several government efforts, not that the government is not done anything, but for various complex reasons, we still do not have a safe drinking water for these basic needs. So we strategically focus on this to make an impact and bring in happiness in the life of those who are deprived of that. In last 12 years we have done a significant amount of work around the country. We funded work and projects in around 23 and now we are having much more programmatic approach which means we do not give individual donations.
HERALD: What measures have to be undertaken for protection of ground water?
RN: We must understand that India is a ground water civilisation. India draws more groundwater than the USA and China combined and both these countries being one of the biggest countries and the biggest economies on the planet. This clearly shows that the way India is drawing groundwater, is surely not sustainable. We have unfortunately learnt to even destroy our natural springs. What Arghyam does here that with the help of several NGOs use the data and good science to reach out to the communities and educated them to preserve their natural resources and be more responsible towards it. We are telling them to change their behavioral patterns, cropping patterns, sanitation practices to help not to over exploit the available water. It does work when they realise that it will help everyone. This work is going right now in 500 places in India and it is going to be picked up by govs in several states.
HERALD: Which states are you working with? Is Goa a part of it?
RN: We are working in 12 states and are hopeful that we can help create and impact on some policy makers. Right now ground water is very poorly managed and regulated. We are working now with several govts to help them improve their policies and laws on groundwater. I am very sorry to report that we have not had anything in Goa but it does not mean that it won’t happen in future.
HERALD: How much impact has Arghyam made in the society?
RN: We are innovating always in the ground through our partners and eventually the scale will come not from the foundation like ours but it will have to come when governments pick up these issues seriously. The biggest foundations in the world cannot be compared to what a government can do in their scale. We are in close contact with the top brass in the Union government sanitation drive and some crucial nodal agencies of the Union government where we participate in all their quality work. Just building toilets won’t help unless we also look into the waste stream of the toilet where we are finding some difficulty. We need to innovate how we are going to manage human waste.
HERALD: How would you look at Goa as a business destination?
RN: I am not a corporate person. My husband (Nadan Nilekani) certainly was, but I have observed rather than participated directly that everyone likes Goa for many reasons. I think Goa is a well mannered State and has protected its ecology to some large extent and it has a lot of potential. The potential apart from tourism, is limitless.
