Reckitt Benckiser releases ‘Paani' anthem as part of Harpic's Mission Paani on World Toilet Day

As a part of RB’s fight to make access to hygiene, wellness and nourishment a right and not a privilege, RB’s Harpic’s Mission Paani campaign is addressing the water crisis and hygiene issues in India.

On World Toilet Day, Laxman Narasimhan, Global CEO, Reckitt Benckiser Group and Grammy award winner AR Rahman launched the ‘Paani Anthem’ at the ‘Jal Pratigya Diwas’ virtual event.

The anthem

RB, as a part of its sustainability goals, has committed to work towards raising awareness and mobilising action towards water conservation and improvement of hygiene and sanitation. During the ongoing pandemic, accessibility to proper hygiene and water is critical to curb the spread of disease and infection.

‘Anthem for saving water’ written by Prasoon Joshi is looking to drive behavioural change on the water and hygiene issues plaguing the country. The anthem launched with AR Rahman and an all-children choir is reaching out to audiences across the country to join this mission to save water.  School children from across India will join the Mission Paani movement and taking a pledge, the ‘Jal Pratigya’ to save water.  

Laxman Narasimhan, Global CEO, Reckitt Benckiser Group, commented, “Over a year ago, we defined our purpose where we exist to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner and healthier world. We articulated our fight to ensure access to high quality products, information that drives behaviour change and availability. Water is instrumental in enabling hygiene and sanitation. Because 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 on 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 today.”

Contributing to this campaign, Akshay Kumar, Mission Paani Ambassador, said, “We shouldn’t reach a point in our lives where we realise 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. Such things have a snow-ball effect, and we need to start thinking about the consequences of our actions when it comes to the usage of available resources. I have utmost confidence in the campaign in making society aware of what needs to be done and hope to see countless lives being saved in these testing times.”

On joining hands with RB, AR Rahman, Music Composer and Grammy Award-winner, 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.”

Speaking on the anthem launch, 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. Today, on World Toilet Day, given the high interdependency of water and sanitation, Harpic Mission Paani with our partners is looking to create awareness on the water crisis in India and educate people on the need for conserving water as well as robustly managing sanitation systems and good hygiene practices. We will be focusing on transformational behaviour change towards water and sanitation through a variety of memorable educational methods using popular culture, music, inspirational stories of water warriors and other means. The amazing ‘Paani anthem’ being released today is one such major step in that direction.”

Sukhleen Aneja, CMO and 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 mobilising action towards saving. In this endeavour, children will be our evangelists, bearing the message for change. It is our privilege to have AR Rahman and Prasoon Joshi create an anthem, to inspire the nation to save water and in taking their Jal Pratigya.”

Prasoon Joshi, lyricist of the anthem and CEO of McCann Worldgroup India, said, “Badalni hai paani ki kahaani, ‘Swachhta aur Paani’. When I started to conceptualise this theme and pen down thoughts for Harpic Mission Paani, I realised how much we have taken water for granted. We must consciously start protecting our rivers and water bodies and we need to do our bit to conserve water. The anthem is our way of making people realise that we need to bring about a change. Let us save lives by saving water.”