ICICI Bank launches ‘Swachh Society Awards’

Christened, ‘Swachh Society Awards’, the initiative aims at sustaining the spirit of the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’. Spanning over 50 days, the programme will evaluate, identify and acknowledge residential societies for their efforts such as energy conservation, rainwater harvesting, waste management, adoption of clean-green technology among others. Selected entries stand to win prizes of ` 30 lakh in various categories like Gold, Silver & Bronze and ‘Clean Crusader Innovation Award’ among others.

The ‘Swachh Society Awards’ is open to all residential societies registered with the Municipal Corporations of Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Navi Mumbai and Vasai-Virar; and Municipal Councils of Panvel, Kharghar and Kalamboli.

Speaking on the initiative, Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank said: “It gives me immense pleasure to launch ‘Swachh Society Awards’. This programme aims to encourage residential societies for driving cleanliness programmes. The vision for a clean and hygienic India has struck a chord with all of us. We, at ICICI Bank, had adopted the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in November 2014. Since then, every day one ICICI Bank branch has been cleaning the area surrounding it. I am delighted to share that over 500 branches and more than 3,800 employees across 112 cities have contributed towards strengthening this initiative. Now, we would like to extend this to the residents of thousands of societies in and around Mumbai. The ‘Swachh Society Awards’ will aim at sustaining the spirit of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and broadening the horizon of a cleaner and safer society.”

To submit entries, registered societies need to visit www.icicibank.com/ssa fill the questionnaire and upload proof of various initiatives and measures undertaken in the last one year. The initiatives include steps taken for energy conservation, rainwater harvesting, segregated waste dustbins, mopping machine, compost pit or similar infrastructure on cleanliness, safety, painting and adoption of clean-green technology. The members of the housing societies can also post pictures of their initiatives using #SwachhSociety and follow the Bank’s twitter handle www.twitter.com/ICICIBank

Responses of shortlisted entries will be validated through a society visit by United Way Mumbai, an NGO which is the community impact partner of the ‘Swachh Society Awards’. The winners will be selected by an eminent jury that includes,  Pratibha Belwalkar, Vice Chairperson of the Bangalore-based NGO, Centre for Sustainable Development; Seema Redkar, Former Officer on Special Duty of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and Saurabh Singh, President, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth.