Tata Consultancy Services’s ‘Sustainathon’ to address Pune’s waste management challenges

Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) launches Sustainathon Pune 2021, in partnership with non-profit organizations and government bodies to tackle pressing sustainability problems. It was launched on the 75th Indian Independence Day, at the hands of India’s eminent scientist Padma Vibhushan Dr. Raghunath A. Mashelkar. 

Dinanath Kholkar, Global Head of Analytics and Insights, TCS welcomed the gathering and kick-started the event by providing an overview of the event. 
Further Parag Karandikar, Editor of a Marathi daily, addressed the gathering and shared his insights on the importance of sustainability. The event also had an interesting panel discussion where waste management experts including Ketaki Ghatge from Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Malhar Karvande from Adar Poonawalla Clean City Initiative (APCCI), and Harshad Barde from Swach NGO shared their views.

Dr Raghunath Mashelkar said, “TCS Sustainathon has brought together not just the best but the very best of Pune. TCS stands for total commitment to society and Bombay House stands for house of ethics. Our population is growing and at the same time our per capita waste is also growing. So the issue has two folds. The future belongs to the youth, and I am glad that Sustainathon is focusing on sensitizing the youth. ” 

Mashelkar further said, “What India needs today is a “clean revolution” in every sense of the word. It had several components and solid waste management is a very critical component of the same’.

The Sustainathon Student Edition will focus on pertinent waste management themes such as ‘zero waste community’, ‘waste to wealth’, ‘empowering the waste handlers’, and ‘my waste, my responsibility’. 
TCS Sustainathon aims at involving the citizens of Pune, especially the young generation, and facilitates action orientation with the participation of challenge partners like PMC, APCCI, Swach, strategic partnership with PIC, PKC, IEEE and supported by eminent leaders as part of various committees.

In June 2021, TCS announced it will achieve Net-Carbon-Neutrality by 2030. Leading by example, TCS Pune plans to encourage its surrounding ecosystem to move in this direction and become future-ready. This is in line with the larger TCS vision of ‘Building on Belief’. 

The TCS Sustainathon Pune 2021 – Student Edition event, focused on ‘waste management’, could be an ideal platform for crowdsourcing innovative ideas from the students of Pune City and unleash their creativity to solve the city’s waste management challenges. The event will be open for all undergraduate and postgraduate students across Pune’s educational institutions, as well as high school students (8-12th grade) of Pune City.