Project Partner: Evidence Action
Geographies: India
What is the core idea of the pilot?
Over 2 billion people around the world drink contaminated water. As a leading cause of child death, malnutrition and diseases, Evidence Action is working in partnership with the Government of India to rapidly and dramatically expand access to safe, high-quality drinking water. They will leverage the government’s groundbreaking US$44 billion infrastructure investment to bring tap water to every rural household in India and marry it with locally manufactured technologies that make water safe to drink through chlorination. By doing so, they aim to transform safe water access across India – saving lives as a result.
Why is this innovative?
While the Indian Government’s Jal Javeen Mission (JJM) has seen tremendous progress, building piped connection in >85mil households, they continue to lack technical capabilities and experience to deliver water treatment at scale.
Beginning in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as demonstration models before expanding to other states, EA seeks to address the issue by using ‘Made in India,’ off-the-shelf chlorination technologies. Safe and effective, chlorine is proven to kill pathogens, has minimal safety concerns, and is a WHO-endorsed treatment solution. They are rapidly scaling up through a technical assistance model that pressure-tests delivery modalities, and fast-tracking government adoption by building their capacity to deliver safe water independently.
What will success look like?
Long term impacts
- Millions of households with reliable access to safe water managed by their state government
- Over 400 million* people with access to drinking water that makes them healthy instead of sick.
- Tens of thousands more children growing into healthy, productive adults
How will success be achieved?
The goal is long-term, nationwide impact; which means working hand-in-hand with government partners for long enough to ensure they can deliver a high-quality programme cost effectively, independently, and sustainably at scale.
This project will encompass three phases over seven years and anticipates the biggest growth in reach during Year 6.
- Phase 1: Drive delivery at scale while supporting the government with tendering and contracting processes
- Phase 2: continue providing intensive support while progressively shifting responsibilities to government partners
Who is leading the project?
Evidence Action scales low-cost health interventions to reach hundreds of millions of people. Over the past decade, we have built a strong reputation for data-driven impact, incredible value for money, and transparency about what works – and what does not. Here are four ways we’re set up for success:
1. Experts in scaling water treatment through chlorination delivery mechanisms – Provided >10mil with access to water in Uganda & Malawi through effective, scalable, low-cost interventions with local government and community buy-in.
2. Provided technical assistance to Indian government for over a decade – previously supported 11 state governments with deworming programs and five with iron and folic acid supplementation.
3. Strong India Team – with strong long-standing relationships with government officials.
4. Immense political momentum – In line with the JJM, the government is committed to achieving quality water access.
