Recognising the progress of cleaning industry in terms of economic, industrial, technological and capacity building, Clean India Journal for the first time, is hosting Clean India Awards during the Clean India Pulire 2013 Show. Clean India Awards acknowledges the best efforts made not only by cleaning professionals but also by individuals, groups and civic departments in order to bring forth the importance of innovations and effectiveness in cleaning practices to keep the country clean.
The world over cleaning has become scientific. Ergonomically designed equipment/tools, high performance green chemicals, innovations, cost effectiveness and functionality are part of advanced cleaning practices. Washrooms and hospital facilities need hygiene solutions. Clean India Awards have been categorized into three sections – Technical, Housekeeping and Civic. A glance:
While housekeeping and Civic awards will be declared on December 6, in the Technical category, a six-member team of Jury consisting of Sunil Ralph, VP – Admin, Essar Steel; Keith Monteiro, VP – Admin, Reliance Industries Ltd; Anita Rodgrigues, VP – Housekeeping, Inox Theatre; Jason O’Connor, Proprietor, O’Connor and Associates Asset Management Co; Janaki Das, Executive Housekeeper, Trident Hotels and Mangala Chandran, Editor-in-Chief, Clean India Journal 
discussed and debated the various product entries received in the Technical category. The jury of the first Clean India Award for the Technical Category has selected 13 nominees out of 39 entries. The winners under equipment, chemicals, hygiene solutions, cleaning tools and new product launch categories of this international award in the professional cleaning industry in India will be announced on December 6, 2013.
The Nominations are:
Speaking to Clean India Journal on the entries received and the eligibility of products within the given parameters, Sunil Ralph said, “We got to see some new equipment with a different scope, variations in scrubber-dryers, new techno-innovations and economics. Good nominations have come up. This will help the industry in making it more versatile. Unfortunately, unlike other sectors, we did not have many indigenous products from local manufacturers. Hence, the take from this is that we should develop an industry that can manufacture, one, quality products of Indian make; two, develop indigenously and third, low cost.”
“Latest developments of equipment with multiple function capability enables easy handling, save time, money, storage space and manpower. Manufacturers must also take into account that Indian workers are semi-skilled, and after they receive a short training are able to grow from using a mop to a machine,” said Keith Monteiro.
Pointing the needed prerequisites, Jason O’Connor said, “For the last 15 years, in terms of development, even though there has been some method in the madness, we are not seeing the three ingredients that a client, end user and the worker operating the machine are looking for. Cost becomes one big factor besides brand but we are looking at machines that are easy to operate on (just start and stop) and having video tutorial displaying in simple terms the various applications, the EHS aspects and the precautionary cleaning that workers can comprehend. Further the deliverable of the product matching with the cost in comparison to other products in the market.” Even though customizations and localizations have been done but there is still a gap that needs to be filled.
Speaking on brand participation in the competition, Anita Rodrigues said that while only a few good brands have come to the fore, there are many others with multi-faceted products which can be explored at such forums. “As said earlier, cost effectiveness plays a very important role. We are all pressurised when it comes to spending, as the company starts looking at the PNL before deciding whether to purchase or not. Servicing from the multiplex point of view, taking carpet cleaning for example, at our end we may need to do an injection extraction every 20 days but that is not necessary with the machinery we have seen in the entries today.”
Echoing the views of the other members of the jury, Janaki Das concluded that “besides cost effectiveness, easy to use machines, multi-functionality and effectiveness, there should a range be it for a smaller place usage or larger space.”
“Clean India Awards is the latest addition to our attempt to recognise the best efforts put in not only by the cleaning professionals but also by individuals, groups and civic departments. The weightage assigned to the parmeters are in accordance with Indian conditions, which is important reflecting the product value in local market,” said Mangala Chandran.The award-winning products also will be on display during the show.
