Amrita Varsity joins GoI-Gates Foundation sanitation project

New Delhi, March 22: Amrita University today joined a league of six Indian innovators who would contribute to an ambitious health project in India, as the multi-campus research institute has been chosen to develop a self-proposed project which would ensure use of disease-free water in the field of sanitation.

The School of Technology functioning under the 2003-established varsity’s Amritapuri campus in Kerala was formally given the go-ahead for carrying out its role in the ‘Reinvent the Toilet Challenge: India’ — a collaborative effort of the Union government and the US-based Bill & Milinda Gates Foundation.

Dr Bipin Nair, dean with the School of Technology functioning near Kollam, received the grant for the multi-crore project that has scientifically proven the novel concept of deploying viral agents which would eliminate pathological and odour agents in faecal matter.

The India-specific programme by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) under the Ministry of Science and Technology, along with the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) which is a Government of Indian Enterprise, is carrying out the 2-million-dollar project equally split with the 2000-incepted Gates Foundation headquartered in Seattle of Washington state.

The grants were announced today by DBT Secretary Prof K Vijay Raghavan, who is Chairman of BIRAC, from a pool of 108 applications which an expert committee shortlisted after “extensive and rigorous” selection.

The function was held in the first evening of a two-day Reinvent the Toilet Fair that showcases innovative products and approaches that aim to brings safe, affordable and sustainable sanitation.