Cleanliness is next to godliness but in
India, next to impossible. While this does hold true, things could all change
starting today as Swachh Bharat Mission gets underway. The Mission envisages a
clean India by 2019 which will be the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma
Gandhi.
A circular from the Directorate of
Education (DoE) asks educational institutions to include activities such as
talks by children on different aspects of cleanliness, cleaning of the campus,
etc on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. The institutions have welcomed this
directive with open arms, eager to be part of a cleanliness revolution in the
country. Schools remain hopeful that such campaigns will manage to imbibe
cleanliness habits in the students at an early age.
Dr R V Gaonkar, Principal Parvatibai
Chowgule College of Arts & Science, Margao assures that their students will
participate in the campaign today. “It is a great exercise. It was started 10
years back in Goa but somehow things didn’t work out. Now that it is on a national
level, things look hopeful. I feel that campaigns like these are required as
cleanliness is important in all walks of life,” said Dr Gaonkar
Anil Kashyap, Principal, Sunshine
School, Old Goa said that the cleanliness drive has already begun in the
school. “We started our cleanliness drive on Tuesday, and it will continue for
another day, along with other activities. A campaign like this was long due. We
were the leaders once upon a time when it came to spiritualism or cleanliness,
so it is a great idea to wake up the country and set an example,” he added.
Conrad Mendes, Principal of Fr Angel
Multipurpose High School, Verna says that a host of activities have been
planned for October 2 that include debate competition, poster competition
followed by cleaning of the entire campus. “It is a good movement as we feel
that everybody has to keep their surroundings clean, things like these should
not be done only for a day but practised daily to really bring about a change,”
said Mendes.
Brenda D’Cruz, Principal, Manovikas High
School feels the same way about ‘Swachh Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya’ campaign.
“Cleanliness has to be a part of our lives every day and we should strive to
inculcate such values in our students,” she said.
Cleanliness is indeed one of the
must-have habits, and it is heartening to see educational institutions welcome
this initiative wholeheartedly.
