Social enterprise gets startup boost

She has the zeal to protect environment as a responsible citizen of the society. In order to focus on issues relating to global warming and give her part to the environment Hyderabad-based Suma Manda (Awasthi) started a company Visesa Parirakshita where she introduces projects that help in recycling and decomposing from the daily garbage. Being the only woman from Telangana to be selected amongst the eight members for the Women’s National Entrepreneur Summit to be held in New Delhi is a matter of pride.

“The summit is being held by NITI AAYOG in collaboration with IIT Delhi. Selected candidates are supported by the Department of Science and Technology for creating a project related involvement. And I am very happy to be one among the eight candidates. My project is about environment, women and child empowerment enrichment and entrepreneurship. We are going to work with the environment related projects,” she shares during an exclusive interview.

Excerpts

Tell us about ‘Visesa Parirakshita’
Visesa Parirakshita as the name suggests is about the nine elements of the universe which include land, water, air and all the living and the non-living beings of the universe. Parirakshita is about safeguarding them. We deal with environment based issues and specially focus on solid waste management and kitchen waste management.

Visesa Parrirakshita is going to address these issues and cut down the usage of plastic bags and replace them with edible bags made out of vegetables. Unlike the traditional methods of collecting garbage, we are working on collecting the garbage of your kitchen which becomes slurry in the pipe. The pipeline is connected to the soil in your premises where the decompose procedure can take place.

How did you get the idea?
I am a resident of this society and when I look around there is lot of litter all around me, which makes me feel that there is no sign of development or growth. So, I wanted to do something for the future generation and protect our society. I always follow the concept - if we care for our earth, it will definitely care for us.

When did Visesa Pariakshita start?
We are just a start-up and we started it a month ago. I have been doing research on the environment for quite some time now. We have registered the company and started doing projects with few of the companies.

How do people respond to your contribution?
By profession I am an architect and being an architect I feel responsible for the environment. I talk to my clients about being little more concerned about the environment. So here we try to convince them about building something that is useful and protects the environment. It is like making people understand that they are also responsible for protecting the environment.

How do you feel after being selected for the summit?
I feel I am on cloud 11 after being selected. It is a very big programme and it was a task when I had to give my presentation. But I managed to send my presentation to New Delhi and got selected. I feel thankful and grateful about it.

What is your future plan?
I address the global problems, but I would be beginning at a local level in Hyderabad. My target is to make the waste disposal in the entire world in a much streamed lined way, so that we can live in a healthier environment. We would also want to start as a part of social enterprise, a unique environment project that can be implemented and introduced in rythu bazaars, canteens, hotels, function halls, etc., with the help of food waste management.