Bharti Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Bharti Enterprises, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Punjab government to jointly provide over 50,000 toilets for rural households in Amritsar district. The MoU signed on Wednesday by the Foundation with the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation of Punjab government, a spokesperson said here. Bharti Foundation will be collaborating with the state government under the Satya Bharti Abhiyan, its well-known sanitation initiative.

 Bharti Foundation

“Under the MoU, Bharti Foundation will join hands with DWSS and will provide financial assistance for the construction of 20,000 toilets in four blocks (Chogawan, Majitha, Ajnala and Harsha Chhina) with an investment of up to Rs 30 crore. The remaining 30,000 plus toilets will be provided by DWSS in five blocks (Attari, Jandiala, Rayya, Tarsika and Verka),” the spokesperson said.

“On completion, the joint initiative will impact over 2.5 lakh individuals. The initiative supported by grants from two group companies – Bharti Airtel Limited and Bharti Infratel Limited,” the spokesperson added.

“The Public-Private Partnership model has proven to be an effective approach to promote inclusive and sustainable development. Bharti Foundation has a rich legacy of actively supporting the government’s social development agenda through its various initiatives. We are happy to be partnering with the district administration of Amritsar and the Government of Punjab to contribute towards alleviating the challenges of sanitation in the district,” Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Co-Chairman, Bharti Foundation said.

Under the Satya Bharti Abhiyan, over 87,000 individuals across Punjab’s Ludhiana district benefited during the firs phase of the campaign, which helped ALudhiana (rural) to become the second self-declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) district of Punjab in November 2016, the spokesperson said. The campaign was launched by Bharti Foundation in August 2014.