Krishnagiri: Corporate major Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to supply protected drinking water to school children, with priority to children of low income families in India. "The unique project is all set to take off in a block in Krishnagiri district in Tamil Nadu and another block in Bangalore rural district in Karnataka on May 4 in the first phase.

Krishnagiri was selected under the project owing to low human development indices with regard to women and children and implementation of Child Friendly Village Planning (CFVP) programme assisted by UNICEF," Collector Santhosh Babu told The Hindu .

"Water quality has been a major area of concern in the country. The main objective of the project is to demonstrate that safe water can be made easily available for consumption in schools and anganvadis. This would not only bring about attitudinal and behavioural changes among children with regard to safe water in the concerned local communities but would also protect them against water-borne diseases," according to Project Officer Water and Sanitation UNICEF A. Devaraj.

Purification

The health intervention will be done using Hindustan Lever's water purification system, Pureit. A total of 370 water purification kits will be provided in primary schools, middle schools and anganvadis in Krishnagiri block and another 330 kits in Bangalore rural district. A total of 12,295 children from low-income families will benefit under this project. Student committees formed under School Sanitation and Hygiene Education (SSHE) in Krishnagiri district will be entrusted with filling of water, monitoring and maintenance of the kits. Headmasters of concerned schools will decide the source of water available in the campus. Women SHGs and village volunteer force will regularly monitor the functioning of the unit, availability of water and cleanliness of surroundings.

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