INMA AWARDS 2011 NEWSPAPER NAME : MALAYALA MANORAMA CATEGORY : PUBLIC RELATIONS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES CIRCULATION GROUP : OVER 300,000 CIRCULATION

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1 INMA AWARDS 2011 NEWSPAPER NAME : MALAYALA MANORAMA CATEGORY : PUBLIC RELATIONS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES CIRCULATION GROUP : OVER 300,000 CIRCULATION Entrant contact details : MALAYALA MANORAMA, K.K. ROAD, KOTTAYAM, KERALA, INDIA Tel : , Fax : dilipkoshykoshy@mm.co.in

2 'PALATHULLI JALASUREKSHA' ('many-a-drop' 'water security') A road show campaign on the theme PURE WATER, PURE ENVIRONMENT by Department of Water Resources, Government of Kerala & Malayala Manorama Supported by UNICEF

3 BACKGROUND To address the issue of scarcity of potable water and degrading water quality in Kerala, the southern most state of India, a massive drive was conceived to capitalize on the awareness that was created in earlier years by various Governmental and Non- Governmental campaigns. Influencing the masses for a sustained behavioral change was the critical challenge. In this context, Palathulli, a project on water conservation by Malayala Manorama and Jalasureksha, a project on water quality management by Department of Water Resources, were integrated to leverage the strengths of both projects and to develop the campaign Palathulli Jalasureksha.

4 Palathulli Jalasureksha Palathulli Jalasureksha 2010 (Palathulli 'many-a-drop', Jalasureksha 'water security') was developed as a joint campaign by Malayala Manorama and Communication and Capacity Development (C.C.D.U.) under the Department of Water Resources, Government of Kerala. The theme of the campaign was 'Pure Water, Pure Environment.' The campaign was supported by UNICEF.

5 Malayala Manorama's efforts towards conservation and improvement of water quality management Malayala Manorama is the largest circulated and the largest read regional language newspaper in the country. It has a circulation of over 1.8 million according to Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC Jan-June 2010) and a readership of over 9.9 million according to Indian Readership Survey (IRS Q3 2010). The Manorama Group has also leadership presence in television, radio, online and print media with a host of media titles. Notable are the efforts made by the media house in many socially responsible projects. Malayala Manorama had launched the Palathulli project in As Kerala, the southern state in the west coast of India was reeling under drought, Malayala Manorama single handedly launched an awareness and capacity building campaign to face societal challenges related to water. It resulted in a new paradigm of conservation of fresh water rivers and water sources and most importantly rainwater harvesting. It was christened 'Pala Thulli' (many-adrop). The project was focused on rain water harvesting and was immensely successful. Palathulli won many awards like the UNESCO IPDC International Prize For Rural Communication in 2006 and the Indira Gandhi Environmental Prize in 2007.

6 Government of Kerala's water friendly policy and initiatives Due to increase in population and concomitant developmental activities in all spheres of life, water related problems ie; water scarcity and water pollution, are increasing day by day. Keeping this view in mind, in the year 2009, Government of Kerala has initiated the programme, Jalasureksha to assure water security for all in a sustainable manner through various programmes initiated by the government and implemented through peoples participation. The core of this programme is to combine the efforts of all the line departments in the water sector with the other departments and relevant organizations and implement the water security plans under the auspices of peoples representatives. Provision is given for the required I.E.C. (information, education and communication) and H.R.D. (human resource development ) for the people so as to ensure active public involvement which invariably is a primary requisite for the success of such an endeavor C.C.D.U. Kerala is implementing a state wide I.E.C. and H.R.D. activities through various projects.

7 UNICEF and its committed actions towards water and sanitation and improving health of school children. Water quality is a growing concern throughout the developing world. Drinking water sources are under increasing threat from contamination, with far-reaching consequences for the health of children and for the economic and social development of communities and nations. Deteriorating water quality threatens the global gains made in improving access to drinking water. Unsafe handling and storage of water compounds the problem. UNICEF and its partners are playing an increasingly active role in supporting governments and communities in this important area. UNICEF, together with its partners at global and country level, is involved in many different programmes to improve sanitation and promote hygiene in schools. School sanitation is an integral part of UNICEF s efforts in more than 30 countries. UNICEF sponsor a wide range of activities and work with many partners, including families, communities, governments and like-minded organizations.

8 OBJECTIVES & STRATEGIES The objective of Palathulli Jalasureksha campaign was to capitalize on the awareness already created and induce a behavioral change. The theme of the campaign was Pure Water, Pure Environment giving the concerns on water quality a holistic environmental approach. Such a message and learning should ideally be cultivated in people s mind from a very young age. A massive drive with local emphasize was planned to be achieved through a roadshow covering the entire state of Kerala. Since catching them young was the idea, the strategy was to target schools and interact with as much students as possible. A 20- day long roadshow jointly managed by Malayala Manorama and C.C.D.U. ran across both urban and rural centers across all 14 districts in Kerala. The roadshow visited 51 schools and 25 public places during the course of the campaign.

9 ACTIVITIES The main vehicle of the roadshow, an Eicher truck was fabricated to look like a typical house in Kerala. The activities were staged on and in front of the vehicle. Folk songs on the theme water Magic show set on the message of water quality management Presence of democratic representatives Spot games for the students Water quality testing lab and resource person interaction Giant droplet mascot Distribution of water quality testing kits to schools Palathulli-Jalasureksha literature & sticker distribution

10 Folk songs A renowned troupe of ten artists conveyed messages of the need for protecting our water sources and maintaining the purity of water, through melodic folk songs. The traditional art of folk songs not only induced interest but also made an emotional connect with the crowd. The songs covered themes like Kerala rivers, pure water and pure environment. Magic Show The various magic tricks performed by the popular magician induced curiosity and conveyed the message effectively. After each item the magician explained the message to the audience. Each item was developed based on the theme of water quality, domestic waste management, sanitation planning, water borne diseases, pretecting the rivers of Kerala, etc.

11 Presence of Members of Parliament, Members of Legislative Assembly and other local self government representatives Each venue had the presence of the democratic representatives of the people a State Minister, an M.P., an M.L.A. or a member of the L.S.G. body. They inaugurated the activity or felicitated the campaign at the particular venue and talked briefly to the audience on the relevance of the campaign message. Spot Games for the students The compere asked questions to the students gathered at each locations. The questions related to the theme of water. Prizes were given to correct answers.

12 Water testing lab and resource person interaction A resource person from C.C.D.U. interacted with the crowd for ten minutes. At each school around five to ten water samples were collected and the quality testing using the kit was demonstrated to the Chemistry teacher and few senior students. During this live demonstration the resource person explained the importance of confirming the quality of water. Giant droplet mascot A giant droplet was the mascot of the roadshow. Popularly named 'Grandpa Raindrop' the mascot entertained the students with a dance. The mascot easily connected with the students and captured the attention of the students, which turned vital to the campaign effectiveness.

13 Pledge stickers and leaflet distribution An attractive sticker with a simple message on the campaign theme was distributed to the schools students. Along with this an informative literature printed on leaflets were distributed to the audience. Water quality testing kit distribution Each school was handed over a water quality testing kit after the live demonstration on how to use it. The heads of the institutions or the chemistry teachers received the kit on behalf of the schools.

14 Contest kit distribution A contest kit was also given detailing the contest announced by C.C.D.U.. It was a report preparation contest wherein the schools were asked to prepare a report using the water quality testing kit provided to the school. The best reports would be given prize money by the Government of Kerala. (Rs. 5,000 for the best report and Rs. 3,000 for the second best.)

15 REACH Over 50 schools and 20 public places witnessed the road show activity as part of this campaign. Schools with a headcount of over students each were selected. The programme at the public places were witnessed by around 200 to 500 spectators at each location. The response from the schools was tremendous. The road show was received with lively enthusiasm by the young students. The keen attention showed by the attentive audience was encouraging and a sure pointer to the relevance of the campaign. The school authorities expressed high regards for the content and quality of the road show.

16 MEDIA COVERAGE Attention and interest was sustained by high profile cross media coverage provided by the Manorama Group. Senior reporters and photographers were delegated to accompany the drive across Kerala. Malayala Manorama newspaper gave tremendous coverage to the roadshow at all venues in the respective district pages with photographs in premium positions. Manorama News TV channel covered the roadshow with video footages in the zonal news segment 'Nattuvartha' corresponding to each location. Radio Mango FM station from Manorama Group gave RJ bytes announcing the arrival of the roadshow to the locality. Manorama Online portal developed a special mini site on the activities and documented the photographs and videos on a regular basis to the photo/video gallery. The channel can be accessed at the url -

17 MEDIA REACH Palathulli Jalasureksha was given visibility in Malayala Manorama (newspaper), Manorama News (TV channel), Radio Mango (fm) and Manorama Online (news portal) on a daily basis. Malayala Manorama has average issue readership of lakh readers according to Indian Readership Survey (Source : IRS 2010 Q3) and reaches to 35 % of Kerala's 12+ population. The edition-wise readership is given below. Malayala Manorama Avg: Issue Readership (IRS 2010 Q3) All Edition 99,27,000 Kannur 9,86,000 Kochi 12,33,000 Kollam 7,62,000 Kottayam 16,27,000 Kozhikode 9,81,000 Malappuram 11,15,000 Palakkad 8,12,000 Pathanamthitta 5,45,000 Thrissur 8,89,000 Trivandrum 9,77,000

18 Radio Mango 91.9 FM with stations at Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur has an average daily listenership of lakh listeners and is the No:1 FM station in Kerala with 6.1 % reach in Kerala according to Indian Readership Survey. (Source : IRS 2010 Q3, Yesterday Listnership of FM stations) Manorama News is the No:1 news channel in Kerala. According to Television Audience Measurement system Manorama News has a reach of 69 % in Kerala. (Source : TAM ratings, CS 4+, Week 45 to 48, 2010) Manorama Online is world's most popular Malayalam website and is trhe No: 1 news portal and Indian website in the GCC, It consistently ranks among top 15 newspaper site in the world according to Alexa. Manorama Online has more than 558 million page views per month and over 7.1 million unique visitors per month.

19 CONCLUSION The key factor behind the success of this campaign was the teamwork and the synergy that could be achieved out of this Private Government partnership. Manorama Group provided the event management expertise and the cross media editorial coverage for the programme. The senior-level executives of Manorama accompanied the roadshow at all venues. Department of Water Resources provided for the resource persons Chemists and Engineers from Kerala Water Authority and C.C.D.U. for interacting with students. C.C.D.U. also provided the water quality testing kits and literature for distribution. UNICEF's association enhanced the credibility of the project. 'Palathulli Jalasureksha is a great example of a successful model of private-public partnership. The role of the Government in facilitating and the role of the media house in responsible communication went hand in hand for this project. The support of UNICEF added credibility and respect to the campaign,. The results achieved by such a partnership, investing in educating the young citizens of the country and triggering a behavioral change will bear fruits and will stand the test of time.