For team Arghyam, the joy of giving comes from being involved in seeing where that giving goes

Sometimes an epiphany strikes in the unlikeliest of places — in Rohini Nilekani’s case it was the shower. It was in this everyday space that Nilekani, a former journalist, a philanthropist and an activist, first thought of setting up a foundation that works with water and related issues. At that time, Nilekani had come into approximately `100 crore after selling her Infosys shares, where her husband Nandan Nilekani, then the CEO of Infosys, worked. And Nilekani clearly knew that she wished to give back to the society that had given her so much. Quick research and brainstorming sessions with the likes of Sunita Nadhamuni threw up a basic fact: there were few organisations that worked with water in India. There were even fewer organisations that funded efforts related to water conservation, equity and sustainability. Arghyam informally began in 2001. It was, in Nilekani’s own words, “a small effort to really learn the ropes of philanthropy”. She knew that she would eventually have to set up a more structured institution, which happened in 2005, when Nadhamuni also came on board as Arghyam’s CEO. The not-for-profit organisation seeks to support “strategic, equitable and sustainable efforts” in the water sector addressing the basic water needs of citizens. Arghyam works around five focal areas: project grants, urban water initiative, India Water Portal, research and advocacy and government partnerships emphasising on sustainability— environmental, financial, social and technical. One of Arghyam’s most ambitious projects began in 2007, a citizen survey called — “Ashwas: Household Survey of Water and Sanitation” — across 17,200 households in 28 districts of Karnataka, to bring out citizens’ perspectives on water and sanitation issues. Designed as a feedback tool to help villagers address their problems better, Ashwas morphed more into a structural analysis of the gram panchayat (GP) system in India. At the end of the survey, in Nilekani’s words, team Arghyam was presented with a “mixed bag” of concerns stemming not from the lack of infrastructure, but more from lack of awareness. Then there was the issue of corruption and the citizens’ failure to connect the issues of sanitation to health. It was not that help was not around when sought. Though the government did sometimes provide water testing kits, most GPs surveyed admitted that they had never asked for one, simply because they were not aware that they were entitled to them. There was also a lack of awareness about finances — aids remained largely unclaimed. The lack of sanitation in most districts was also a cause for worry — open defecation and utter lack of menstrual hygiene in several instances led to further illnesses. The root of the problem lay in the gap of understanding — between the government, gram panchayats and finally, the citizens. Though not everything was dismal, every improvement came with a disclaimer. Access to water was improving. At the same time, however, water quality was dropping. The country had water supply and the Centre had the money to address scarcity and quality issues. However, it lacked a mandate. Also, water was a political issue in several parts of the county. Another successful attempt to connect the dots by Arghyam was the India Water Portal — an open, inclusive, web-based platform that was meant to share “water management knowledge” among the public and experts. The portal was the result of the first Arghyam conference that was held in February 2005 and the National Knowledge Commission which was at that time pushing for knowledge portals in various sectors, including water. In fact the Planning Commission had set up committees to rework laws, regulation and financing of water. In 2011, Arghyam has financed more than 85 projects and programmes across 19 states leaving its footprint in more than 5,000 villages with a `150-crore endowment and a `12-crore annual budget, but Nilekani believes that the organisation still has a long way to go.