About The Knowledge Fellowship

India Sanitation Coalition instituted its First Knowledge Fellowship program in 2019 for media professionals on Sanitation and its Socio-economic impact. It gave an opportunity to 14 Journalists working in the States of Maharashtra and Delhi (NCR) to look, examine and analyze the issue in-depth and report about the human, social and economic impact of issues related to both urban and rural sanitation.

India Sanitation Coalition's Knowledge Fellowship aims to expose select journalists to issues related to the entire sanitation value chain, comprising usage of toilets, containment and conveyance of wastewater and its treatment including faecal sludge management (FSM). The issue of treating faecal waste so far has remained under- reported in the media. Similarly, issues related to solid waste management, hygiene and wastewater management are not reported holistically.

The primary objective of this fellowship is to provide hands-on experience of the working of the sanitation value chain and safe sanitation to our selected fellow journalists. As part of the 2019 Fellowship program, the selected journalists were oriented to issues related to both the urban and rural sanitation value chain, policy landscape from the national to the local level, and initiatives undertaken by government agencies and non-government organisations to address the critical issues in sanitation. This orientation, training and exposure programme will involve both classroom sessions and field trips.

Our ISC ‘Fellow’ journalists developed a holistic perspective on the socio-economic impact of sanitation and reported on tvarious aspects and issues that are related to sanitation and its linkages to other sectors for a period of six months following the completion of their training.