Highlights
- Swachhta Pakhwada was started with an oath taking ceremony
- Officials performed Nukkad Nataks to spread awareness
- Activities like slogan writing, poster making were also carried out across
Swachhta Pakhwada, a fortnightly cleanliness drive taken up by various government ministries was recently observed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution from May 16 to May 31. As part of the drive, the ministry focused on spreading awareness among consumers and bringing them in the forefront for sanitation initiatives. Concluding the swachhta pakhwada in Delhi Jagdish Prasad Meena, Secretary Consumer Affairs said, “Consumer can play a pivotal role in the Swachhta Mission.”
Secretary, Dept of Consumer Affairs, Sh Jagdish Prasad Meena briefs press on successful conclusion of #SwachhtaPakhwada, in New Delhi pic.twitter.com/p5SF0DbsTj
— PIB India (@PIB_India) May 31, 2017
The Swachhta Pakhwada was started with an oath taking ceremony whereby officials from the ministry pledged to maintain cleanliness in their offices and their surroundings. The officials were directed to remove old and unwanted office stationaries, papers, etc. The officials even performed Nukkad Nataks (street plays) at various places including Krishi Bhawan and INA Market. Apart from Nukkad Nataks, the drive was further carried out across India in engaging ways like slogan writing competition, poster making competition and essay writing competition.
The ministry also used their popular campaign ‘Jago Grahak Jago’ to inform consumers about their responsibilities by broadcasting on several platforms including Doordarshan, Lok Sabha TV, All India Radio and Private FM Channels across the country.
The ministry also involved subordinate organisations of this Department such as Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and National Test House (NTH) and directed them to conduct activities of cleanliness on a day to day basis.
The BIS went beyond their housekeeping activities and conducted awareness programmes in various schools. Issues like segregation of solid waste, use of dustbins for bio-degradable and non-degradable waste, and composting of bio-degradable waste were addressed in local languages. They also screened an 8 minute long film on Street Food Vendors to teach them about safe hygienic practices.
To impart lessons of swachhta, the NTH adopted villages and educational institutions in Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Ghaziabad, Jaipur and Guwahati through its regional centres.
