Venkatesh "Venky” Raghavendra is a social entrepreneur with over three decades of philanthropy and development experience. He is currently working on the issue of access to clean water with a particular focus on India through the organization Safe Water Network co-founded by late actor Paul Newman & Goldman Sachs Co-Chair John Whitehead. 

Venky enjoys building multi-stakeholder partnerships and is working closely with several state governments of India to address the issue of access to clean water.  He is also an advisor to Government of India.  In his career Venky has been associated with American India Foundation, Open Society Foundations, UK-based Common Purpose and Washington DC-based Ashoka: Innovators for the Public.

He feels that there are so many critical areas of development to be addressed – education, public health, livelihoods and says nothing is more or less important.  But he sees water as a common denominator that can empower, pre-empt illnesses and create healthier communities, which can be the basis for individual and collective well-being and prosperity. 

Water is a basic human right and yet it is something that many have been denied access? In your current role could you give us some insights into this issue of clean drinking water?

 Living a good quality of life is dependent upon whether or not you have access to safe water. 2.1 billion people globally currently live without safe water. In the context of India, there is a lot of development work going on and issues like health, education and economic opportunities are being tackled by various stakeholders including the government.  Creating better access to safe water ranks at the very top of these issues with millions in need.

 I feel privileged to be able to do this work which reaches the most remote and underserved parts of India. When I see our water kiosk in the Medak District hospital in the state of Telangana, everyone uses our water - from the doctors to the patients and their caregivers.  They are all accessing the affordable safe drinking water from our station.   It’s also important to note that many patients within the hospital are likely there fighting an illness that would have been avoided if they had access to safe water in the first place. Lives, money, and resources would all be saved if we addressed this global crisis on the front end.

 What are some of the solutions and what is Safe Water methodology that is bringing hope to the people in the village?

Our solution is dependent upon buy in from both the communities in which we implement our water stations and the local governments. We currently operate more than 257 water stations within the states of Telangana, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh - each of which is owned and operated by local entrepreneurs.  Education and training of the local community to help run the water stations is essential to our sustainable model.

Our water kiosk can serve 4000-5000 people in a community.  Each family spends less than $3 a month to access the clean water they need for their drinking and cooking.  This completely transforms the community.  If girls are unwell from drinking unsafe water and can’t go to school, it is not helping the family or the community. 

With community and local government participation on one hand, an entrepreneurship and sustainable approach on the other, we are able to impact communities significantly.  Add to that a number of technologies help sustain our model —such as 24/7 water ATMs, solar-powered water pumps, digital finance capability, and remote monitoring—these innovations help reduce costs, improve operations, and ensure water quality over many years.

 Which are the places that Safe Water operates and what has been the success?

Our reach is global but our physical footprint currently is in India and Ghana. With more than 342 water stations, each serving an average community size of 1000-5000 people, Safe Water Network has since provided safe water access to more than 1.27 million people. When we provide access to safe water, we give the gift of life: drastic improvements in the health, livelihood, and economic opportunity are just a few of the many benefits.  We consider less hospital stays, more time spent with families, and children going to school instead of retrieving water among some of our largest successes.

Besides the direct impact of the kiosks we setup, we bring our technical expertise to larger systems and the infrastructure setup by governments.  For instance, we have been invited by the Government of Karnataka to help put in systems and processes so that the 16,000 stations setup by the government can perform better and serve the approximately 40 million rural population of the state of Karnataka. 

 We recently highlighted the role of women and water in World Water day? Can you elaborate?

This year’s World Water Day theme is “Leave No One Behind”, emphasizing clean water as a basic human right for all – which implies not discriminating upon one’s gender, race, religion, disability, age, economic or social status. In observance of this year’s theme we felt it was important to focus on the fact that adverse effects of unsafe water disproportionately affect women and girls. Women and children are traditionally responsible for collecting water and caring for ill family members. These demands consequently prevent them from attending school, providing childcare, or conducting income-generating activities—thereby locking their families in a cycle of poverty. When sustainable water supply exists in a community, women and girls have more time to engage in the essential activities I just mentioned. Furthermore, when women are employed by sustainable water enterprises such as ours, they gain new skills, increase their labor-market competitiveness, and achieve increases in income. We’ve seen in community after community that fixing water truly does fix gender parity.   This has been bolstered by various gender studies as well. 

Finally how can we all help in being more conscious of saving our planet and averting a major crisis?

The reality is that we are already facing a major water crisis. However, we can avert creating a larger one by addressing the issue now rather than later. The first step for those who want to become more water conscious is to become educated and aware. The other is to take ownership and assume the role as champion for ensuring that your community (or your nearby community) has access to safe water.  Every day our case for support of clean water becomes more compelling and governments, funding agencies, other implementers, and influencers are taking notice. It is only through this sort of collaboration and partnerships that we will have a chance at combating the water crisis. We look forward to building many more relationships with others interested in joining the cause to bring safe water to all.

What can the informed and concerned readers of Lokvani do to support the cause of access to clean water?

At the very basic level, not taking clean potable water for granted is key.  Think of the millions who are drinking contaminated water and falling ill.  So helping setup our kiosks in underserved areas is a game-changer for those in the community and people can contribute to this.  There are small and large corporations and entrepreneurs including those in the New England area who have supported the setting up of new stations.  This is the most direct and immediate way of ensuring those without access to clean water in parts of India where we are currently working  have reliable access and lead healthier lives. 

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