News On Air | Indian Swachhata League observing massive youth mobilization

Sep 20,2022

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has launched Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban which attempts to make cities garbage-free and are given a new boost to achieve the objective. SBM-Urban 2.0 is a maiden edition of the ‘Indian Swachhata League’ which has mobilised more than 5,00,000 youth, citizen volunteers, and celebrity icons across the country to join the first ever Indian Swachhata League and to work together towards the mission’s goal of making cities clean, green, and garbage-free.

India’s first inter-city competition led by youth

The Indian Swachhata League is India’s first inter-city competition led by youth toward building Garbage Free Cities. More than 1,800 cities from Leh to Kanniyakumari are participating by setting up a team for their city and planning activities. It is part of the ongoing fortnight-long celebrations ‘Swachh Amrit Mahotsav’ from 17th Sept. 2022, Seva Diwas, till 2nd Oct. 2022, Gandhi Jayanti.

City teams engaged in a variety of innovative and imaginative projects to demonstrate their commitment to swachhata. By planning bicycle parades with young people, city teams from Ludhiana in Punjab, Panvel, and Pune in Maharashtra, Pathsala in Assam, and Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh promoted both swachhata and swasthya.

Youth groups in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, and Chandigarh disseminated the source segregation message in a novel way. While more than 2,000 children from Team Chandigarh Challengers came out to demonstrate four bins, nearly 5,000 young students from Team Bemisaal Bhopal formed a human chain to exhibit the six-bin system for better garbage management.

Thirty tonnes of trash from 49 beaches were removed

4,000 volunteers in Greater Mumbai, Maharashtra walked more than 50 kilometres and removed thirty tonnes of trash from 49 beaches dispersed across 8 well-known places. While Team Mangaluru Swachhata Soldiers deployed 5,000 engaged youth to clean 11 different beaches, teams from Puri and Kerala made sand art to promote clean, plastic-free beaches. The first Indian Swachhata League featured youth from Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, and Team Pristine Port Blair from the Union Territory of Port Blair.

Thousands of people participated in rallies in several Jammu and Kashmir cities, including Ganderbal, Pahalgam, Anantnag, Dooruverinag, and Bijbehara, to raise awareness about swachhata. The Northeastern states of Mizoram, Tripura, Assam, Sikkim, and Nagaland have strong youth populations, which has fueled national enthusiasm for the Indian Swachhata League.

Jury of distinguished national citizens will select the top teams

A jury of distinguished national citizens will independently select the top teams in this youth-led tournament. The evaluation will take into account the level of involvement, the novelty of the activity, and the results of the cleanliness campaigns. It is anticipated that by focusing on on-the-ground action for sanitation, waste management, and the impact of cleanliness campaign, the mission will encourage more concentrated engagement of youngsters.