On December 7, 2019 the Minister of Defence (MoD) Shri Rajnath Singh, flagged off the ‘Swachhta Day’ event, organised by the Delhi Cantt in New Delhi. The aim of the day was to create awareness to people, collect plastic waste and make the surrounding plastic free with participation from 50 lakh people. The cleanliness drive was part of the activities of Swachhta Pakhwada. The slogan for the event was ‘Plastic Se Raksha – Swachhata Hi Suraksha’.
Key Points:
i.All the 3 service of the indian armed forces which are Indian Navy, Air Force and Army along with other defence establishments indulged in huge plugging programme in more than 400 locations throughout the country.
ii.Participants: A total of 3000 people participated in Swachhta related activities.
iii.Other organisations participated: Other organisations that participated in the event were Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Defence Public Sector Undertakings(PSU), Ordnance Factory Board(OFB), Cantonment boards, national Cadet Corps (NCC), Border Road Organisation (BRO) etc
iv.Other events: Several other events that were held as follows:
- During the event, several community awareness programmes such as debates, quizzes, painting competitions among students etc. were conducted.
- The Swachhta anthem was played in all the events across the country.
- There was also a competition amongst the units. The winner was based on number of participants in plogging and the amount of plastic collected.
v.Swachata Pakhwada: Swachhata Pakhwada was started in April 2016 with the objective of bringing intense focus on the issues and practices of Swachhata by engaging Govt of India Ministries/Departments in their jurisdictions.
About Ministry of Defence(MoD):
Founded- 15 August 1947.
Headquarters- New Delhi.
Minister of State(MoS)- Shri Shripad Yesso Naik (Constituency- North Goa).
