Himachal Governor Acharya Devvrat on Wednesday launched the ‘Swachh Himachal – Padhai bhi, Safai bhi’ campaign initiated by Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) at Ridge in Shimla in the presence of Anurag Thakur, President HPCA & MP Hamirpur.
launching the ‘Swachh Himachal’ campaign, the Governor said, “I am happy to be a part of this esteem initiative called ‘Swachh Himachal – Padhai bhi, Safai bhi’. I would like to congratulate organisers, students, teachers and everybody else associated with this noble campaign. In the past seven months, I have undertaken initiatives to safeguard the students from drugs and intoxicants."
The Governor said that Himachal was known for its salubrious climate and pristine beauty and it was essential to preserve the beauty of the hill State, which is possible if all sections of society were involved. He said that sincere efforts should be made so that Himachal would be known for cleanliness. He added that school children could play an important role in this direction and motivate the people to involve them for such social cause.
Acharya Devvrat said that he had initiated various steps for the betterment and welfare of the society. Among these were, to save youth from drugs, Gau Palan, promotion of organic farming, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao besides promoting environment of harmony. He said that cleanliness and environmental protection were the important parts of these initiatives and gave a clarion call to promote these initiatives for the welfare of the society.
He said lakhs of tourists visits Himachal Pradesh every year and to promote tourism, towns and cities should be kept clean, he added. He quoted the example of Switzerland where around three crore tourists visit the country every year and main reason was the clean environment and their citizens were taking the responsibility of cleanliness.
Also joining the campaign, Mayank Dagar, the star left arm spinner of U-19 World Cup team, pledged to promote ‘Swachh Himachal – Padhai bhi, Safai bhi’ initiative.
The campaign aims at creating awareness and understanding among the youth about the benefits of leading a clean, green and healthy lifestyle. This campaign will be driven throughout the state, across 12 districts both in urban and rural areas. The initiative will be primarily led by youth hailing from school, colleges, universities, educational institutes such as ITI’s, technical universities, Yuva Kendra, Mahila Mandal, etc.
Ten students from each school will be appointed as Swachh Captains, other students as Swachh Ambassadors and two teachers per school as Swachh Coach. To motivate and sensitize the youth, various opportunities will be offered such as interactive session and cricket clinics with renowned Indian cricketers, chance to watch live matches at the stadium, etc. The Swachh Captains and Swachh Coach will get a check-list to conduct the cleanliness drive starting with their institute/university and then their local neighborhoods. The objective is to showcase Himachal's beauty as India's cleanest and greenest State.