Dr. Vijaya Lakshmi gets National Award for
Women’s Development through Application of
Science & Technology
Dr. K. Vijaya Lakshmi
has been awarded with National Award for Women’s
Development through Application of Science & Technology
to recognize her outstanding contribution to solving
environmental problems of the village communities especially
the women by addressing issues concerning safe drinking
water by development of a simple easy to use, field
testing kit and community water filter. The Jal-TARA
water testing Kits and Jal-TARA water Filter developed
are being used for testing and treating water across
rural India. This unique initiative involving women
self help groups in Bundelkhand region helps to provide
‘clean and safe water for the community. Her efforts
have considerable reduced morbidity through waterborne
diseases in this region.
The award was conferred upon her by
the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil
at the National Conference on Showcasing Cutting Edge
Science & Technology by Women in New Delhi today.
Dr. Vijaya Lakshmi, a Doctorate in
Chemistry form Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati,
Andhra Pradesh, began her journey as environmental scientist
18 years ago at Development Alternatives. She is one
of those rare scientists who have successfully made
the journey from experiment and innovation in a research
laboratory to applications in the field.
Early in her career, she realized
the criticality of using scrupulous scientific methods
to identify, analyze and solve practical problems. She
then applied frontline knowledge to solving the environmental
problems of the village communities, the women and the
poor. Issues concerning water quality, its health impacts
especially on women and children intrigued her the most.
She took upon the challenge of demystifying the science
of water quality testing and purification and decided
to make sure that the common person has access to simple,
reliable, easy to operate tools. The Jal-TARA water
testing Kits and Jal-TARA water Filter were developed
which have now become very popular and are being used
especially for testing millions of water samples and
for treating gallons of water across India.
She has meticulously built up a team
and a facility at Development Alternatives, a technology
oriented voluntary organization that is recognized worldwide
for its innovation and large scale dissemination of
science based techniques for raising the quality of
the environment while providing day to day solutions
for poor communities, particularly in safe drinking
water. Due to her commitment the common person now has
access to simple, reliable, easy to operate water-testing
and purification tools.
She is currently piloting a unique
initiative involving Women Self Help Groups from 10
villages from Niwari and Jhansi districts of Bundelkhand
region to provide ‘clean and safe water for all
and always’. The region has been declared drought
hit as monsoons have failed for the fourth successive
year, thus resulting in increased drudgery for women
as they have to travel long distances to fetch water
which is often not so clear or safe. By engaging women
in forming village water committees, she and her team
trained the women and youth to test their water and
install the Jal-TARA water filter to treat the bacterial
contamination with is the main problem in the region.
Currently, women in these villages are enjoying the
new found freedom from drudgery and diverting their
efforts for productive employment such as food processing,
poultry rearing etc. to raise their income levels.
In 3 villages in the Bundelkhand region,
Bramohri Shital, Kachipura and Madore the women are
involved in collecting user charges for the water supplied,
besides installing water meters to keep the check on
excessive consumption and applying user charges as per
the quantities drawn. In Mandore, while the water enterprise
is set up by the community, in Kachipura the water enterprise
is set by a local entrepreneur. Women Self Help Groups
are playing a major role in regulating all these efforts.
In partnership with communities, Dr. Vijaya Lakshmi
is all set to reach out to the Women Self Help Groups
in the rest of the villages in the 13 districts of Bundelkhand
region. Her efforts have considerably reduced morbidity
through waterborne diseases in this region.
Source:
Press Information Bureau Date: March 08, 2008
