Shri S Damodaran
(Environmental Protection)
About Shri S Damodaran
- S Damodarana was awarded Padma Shri award in 2022 for his major contribution in the field of social work.
- He was the first graduate in his family, from a very early age, Mr. Damodaran was determined to serve society in a meaningful way.
- He was instrumental in declaring India’s first village Thanadavampatti as 100% open defecation free in Tamil Nadu and declared India’s first slum Kalmandhai as an open defecation-free zone.
- He has designed the innovative child friendly toilet models suitable for urban slums, anganwadi centres and for the schools.
- With his mentorship, Guardian Microfinance Institution, the first MFI in the world was promoted by Gramalaya which is only providing loans for household water connections and toilet construction.
Social Work
- S. Damodaran is the Founder of Gramalaya, started in 1987.
- Gramalaya is an Indian Non- Governmental Organisation (NGO) that has recently led successful campaigns in the rural and urban areas of Tamil Nadu.
- As of 2022, as an approved key resource centre of the Ministry of Jalshakti Gramalaya has been actively involved in community-led sanitation programmes aimed at eradicating open defecation and replacing it with safe personal hygiene protocols and eco-friendly toilets.
- For the past six years, Gramalaya has been working in menstrual hygiene management among adolescent girls by promoting reusable cloth sanitary napkins.
- It is also looking at reducing malnutrition among young children.
