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S. Mishra and K. Vijaya Lakshmi
services in advance. In order to speed up this process, and maintain the momentum
created, DA has intervened and facilitated the process so that the local NGO is in
close contact with manufacturer tracking the delivery of the orders. Efforts have also
gone into making the manufacturer realise the potential of the market, which will
also drive timely delivery of services to the growing client base in the study area.
12.3 Imperatives for Scaling up
The pilots lent themselves to a lot of learning on issues of access to water as well the
support systems. The section below highlights some of the key lessons learnt from
the experiences in Delhi and Bundelkhand.
• Influencing behaviour change in the community for safe drinking water services: Based on our understanding of the attitude of BoP towards safe drinking
water services, this section of society is aware of the health impacts associated with
contaminated water, however, the need for such services often gets neglected over
other priorities. Therefore, it becomes imperative to influence the behaviour to seek
safe drinking water. For this on the spot water quality testing, street play/awareness
generation campaign can play a very vital role in bringing out changes at grass-root
level, in creating much-needed awareness and behaviour changes amongst the public at large. It was observed that the best method to change people’s mind set is on
the spot water testing, wall paintings and street plays. In addition, sessions involving close interaction between the community and influential individuals from the
medical field, water industry, etc., were helpful.
• Engaging with local NGO/SHGs can better facilitate service delivery mechanisms: Based on our experience from the on-field activities, it can be clearly
concluded that the peer-influenced models are not very successful for providing
safe drinking water services, however, similar models for other products such as of
Amway has shown appreciable results in urban space. The reason for the same is
because safe drinking habits are not often prioritised and hence the demand is very
limited, which is usually perceived as a risk by the entrepreneurs as it questions
the profitability of the business. Therefore, these entrepreneurs are only interested
to work in models from where they can derive fixed salaries on the monthly basis.
Engaging with local NGOs and SHGs who have been present in the community
from a long time in similar kind of activities would be beneficial in terms of their
understanding on the needs of the community and the confidence community has
on them.
• On the financial front, the introduction of microfinancing with easy instalmentsbased schemes is a driver that accelerates uptake. Since the sale of filter is a
consumer product, user preference and expectations from the product are keys to
successful adoption. Building financial incentives along the supply chains is a key
factor for sustaining and scaling up of the service delivery models.
S. Mishra and K. Vijaya Lakshmi
services in advance. In order to speed up this process, and maintain the momentum
created, DA has intervened and facilitated the process so that the local NGO is in
close contact with manufacturer tracking the delivery of the orders. Efforts have also
gone into making the manufacturer realise the potential of the market, which will
also drive timely delivery of services to the growing client base in the study area.
12.3 Imperatives for Scaling up
The pilots lent themselves to a lot of learning on issues of access to water as well the
support systems. The section below highlights some of the key lessons learnt from
the experiences in Delhi and Bundelkhand.
• Influencing behaviour change in the community for safe drinking water services: Based on our understanding of the attitude of BoP towards safe drinking
water services, this section of society is aware of the health impacts associated with
contaminated water, however, the need for such services often gets neglected over
other priorities. Therefore, it becomes imperative to influence the behaviour to seek
safe drinking water. For this on the spot water quality testing, street play/awareness
generation campaign can play a very vital role in bringing out changes at grass-root
level, in creating much-needed awareness and behaviour changes amongst the public at large. It was observed that the best method to change people’s mind set is on
the spot water testing, wall paintings and street plays. In addition, sessions involving close interaction between the community and influential individuals from the
medical field, water industry, etc., were helpful.
• Engaging with local NGO/SHGs can better facilitate service delivery mechanisms: Based on our experience from the on-field activities, it can be clearly
concluded that the peer-influenced models are not very successful for providing
safe drinking water services, however, similar models for other products such as of
Amway has shown appreciable results in urban space. The reason for the same is
because safe drinking habits are not often prioritised and hence the demand is very
limited, which is usually perceived as a risk by the entrepreneurs as it questions
the profitability of the business. Therefore, these entrepreneurs are only interested
to work in models from where they can derive fixed salaries on the monthly basis.
Engaging with local NGOs and SHGs who have been present in the community
from a long time in similar kind of activities would be beneficial in terms of their
understanding on the needs of the community and the confidence community has
on them.
• On the financial front, the introduction of microfinancing with easy instalmentsbased schemes is a driver that accelerates uptake. Since the sale of filter is a
consumer product, user preference and expectations from the product are keys to
successful adoption. Building financial incentives along the supply chains is a key
factor for sustaining and scaling up of the service delivery models.