L Narasimhan, Global CEO, Reckitt Benckiser Group, and AR Rahman Launch ‘Paani Anthem’ to Save Water

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Industry Watch | November 23, 2020 | News

Reckitt Benckiser Group Harpic AR Rahman

On November 19, celebrated as World Toilet Day, Laxman Narasimhan, Global CEO, Reckitt Benckiser Group and AR Rahman launched the ‘Paani Anthem’ at the ‘Jal PratigyaDiwas’ virtual event. The anthem launched with Rahman and an all-children choir urging the audience to join Reckitt Benckiser’s Harpic Mission Paani campaign, to save water and address hygiene issues in India.

The anthem, written by Prasoon Joshi, plans to drive behavioural change on the water and hygiene issues plaguing the country.

The campaign aims to work towards raising awareness and mobilizing action towards water conservation and improvement of hygiene and sanitation. School children from across India are joining the Mission Paani movement and taking a pledge, the ‘Jal Pratigya’ to save water.  

Laxman Narasimhan, Global CEO, Reckitt Benckiser Group commented, “Water is instrumental in enabling hygiene and sanitation. With the availability of water and our commitment to hygiene and sanitation, we can put in place a first line of defence to address this issue. Today on World Toilet Day, we are reaching out to a wide audience with a common message on water conservation and hygiene. We can all be ambassadors of water and hygiene. I urge you all to join me to take your Jal Pratigya.”

Actor Akshay Kumar, Mission Paani ambassador, commented, “We shouldn’t reach a point in our lives where we realize the true value of water only when we no longer have it. This is all the reason why it’s important to be responsible citizens and put others before ourselves to conserve water for their use and benefit. I have utmost confidence in the campaign making society aware of what needs to be done and hope to see countless lives being saved in these testing times.”

Commenting on joining hands with RB, music maestro AR Rahman said, “The water crisis is one of the most compelling situations we need to address. The ‘Paani Anthem’, created by Prasoon (Joshi) and I, is a call to action sung by the generation with the most to lose if we don’t conserve water: today’s children. It’s important to lay a foundation of care to address the water issue, to develop conscious action around how water is used and consumed, to remind people to be careful. The all-children choir is the voice of our youth who are looking to make a difference. We are hoping to encourage the nation to take the water oath in an attempt at saving water.”

Narasimhan Eswar, Senior Vice President, RB Hygiene, South Asia said, “RB’s fight is to make access to the highest quality hygiene, wellness and nourishment a right and not a privilege. With Harpic, we have been driving mass behavioural change towards toilet sanitation over the years. With Harpic Mission Paani,we will be focusing on transformational behaviour change towards water and sanitation through a variety of educational methods using popular culture, music, inspirational stories of water warriors and other means. The amazing ‘Paani anthem’ is one such major step in that direction.”

Sukhleen Aneja, CMO & Marketing Director, RB Hygiene, South Asia said, “By 2030, demand for water will far outweigh supply. There is a need to conserve water. The more we save, the less we waste, the closer we will get to water sufficiency. We are aiming to create an ecosystem for mobilizing action towards saving water. In this endeavour, children will be our evangelists, bearing the message for change. It is our privilege to have AR Rahman andPrasoon Joshi create an anthem, to inspire the nation to save water and in taking their Jal Pratigya.”