Suvidha is a purpose-built, sustainable, first-of-its-kind urban water, hygiene, and sanitation community centre that provides hygiene and sanitation solutions to low-income households in Mumbai.
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and JSW Foundation, as part of their strategic partnership to establish 10 new Suvidha centres in Mumbai, launched the first such facility in Jagruti Nagar, Ghatkopar.
This initiative builds on the successful Suvidha Model initiated by HUL in 2016, which currently operates 17 centres in partnership with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and HSBC India, impacting over 450,000 people annually.
Key highlights of Suvidha
Suvidha centres are designed to address the comprehensive hygiene, and sanitation needs of low-income communities, offering all essential services under one roof. The tested and proven holistic approach is built around human-centric design, providing safety to women and children and working with the communities. These facilities, in addition to strong community engagement and strong operating processes, lead to high satisfaction and improved health outcomes among users.
- 24x7 access
Suvidha provides access to safe toilets that run 24x7, purified drinking water, showers, and laundry services.
- Affordable Amenities
Services are offered at affordable rates.
- Inclusively designed
Suvidha centres consider the needs of women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.
- Focus on safety of women and children
Suvidha centres have separate washrooms for men, women and children with facilities for senior citizens and persons with disabilities. To ensure safety of the women using the facility, the washrooms are equipped with a ‘panic button’ for emergencies.
- Sustainability at the core
140 million litres has already been saved cumulatively through our centres. The centres are powered by solar energy.
- Behaviour change programs
Along with our partners, we run a comprehensive behaviour change program in communities around our Suvidha centres to ensure improvement in individual and overall community health.
We are delighted to announce the launch of our first Suvidha centre in collaboration with JSW Foundation, making this the 18th centre in Mumbai. This marks a significant milestone in our commitment to providing safe and dignified sanitation services to underserved communities in the city.
Sashidhar Vempala, Chief Sustainability Officer, Hindustan Unilever Limited