The Principles of 3R - Reduce ,Reuse and Recycle - have always been an Integral Part of Indian Culture : Sumitra Mahajan

Apr 10,2018

Smt.Sumitra Mahajan, Speaker, Lok Sabha said that the principles of 3R - Reduce ,Reuse and Recycle - have been an integral part of Indian culture. Preserving biodiversity, sustainable living and peaceful coexistence with nature have been the guiding philosophy of the Indian way of life and have always been part of the teachings of ancient scriptures.

         Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Eighth Regional 3R Forum here today Smt. Sumitra Mahajan reminded the participating Mayors and the Municipal Commissioners that they have special responsibility of maintaining the cleanliness of their cities to promote the concept of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle of waste.  She also appealed to the representatives of the private sector engaged in industries and entrepreneurs to actively participate in the Swachh Bharat Mission and implement the principles of 3R as part of their core businesses. She empahsised on the active participation of the people to achieve the goals of Swachhta and sustainable development.

        Shri Hardeep S Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Housing & Urban Affairs, Mr. Tadahiko Ito , State Minister, Ministry of the Environment Japan; Ms. Birgitte Bryld, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, Division for Sustainable Development, UN DESA; Smt. Maya Singh, Minister for Urban Development, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh and Sh. Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs were also present at the inaugural event.

            Sh. Hardeep Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Housing & Urban Affairs, reiterated the government's commitment to moving towards 100% scientific solid waste management which is an important part of the ambitious Swachh Bharat Mission which the country has embarked upon under the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  Outlining the range of initiatives taken to ensure compliance with Swachh Bharat Mission Rules 2016, Shri Puri informed that his Ministry is promoting scientific processing of waste, using the principles of 3R, and actively engaging in behaviour change initiatives, including messaging through both traditional mass media, and interpersonal communications.  He further informed that :-

MoHUA is actively promoting the concept of source segregation, both at household level and by bulk waste generators, to not only reduce the total amount of waste going into landfills, but also to ensure improved quality of input waste going into waste processing plants
MOHUA is also actively promoting a variety of decentralised composting options among waste generators, including enforcing mandatory compliance by bulk waste generators for on-site processing of their wet waste generated.
Parallely, MoHUA is encouraging the recycle and reuse of dry waste for higher value and earning potential.
 

            He stated that the Swachh Survekshan, has now given rise to a spirit of healthy competition between cities in their race to become the ‘cleanest’ city. While the first survey was among 73 cities, the second round of Survekshan was held among 434 cities. Swachh Survekshan 2018 has covered 4203 cities, and results are awaited.   MoHUA has also launched a ‘star rating protocol for garbage free cities’ to motivate cities to achieve garbage free status.

           Mr.Tadahiko Ito, Minister of state , environment ministry of Japan said that the clean city of Indore was the most perfect city to host then 3R forum empahsised and that India and Japan share the same values of sustainable development and the principles of 3R.

           Smt Maya Singh, Minister  of Urban development , Govt of Madhya Pradesh said that the state govt is pursuing the agena of sustainable development through the 3R principles in waste management policies across it's cities. She said that the state of Madhya Pradesh is positively pursuing the aim of zero waste society.

            Providing details of the 3R Forum, Shri Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs informed that the 3R Forum has been designed by the Government of Japan and United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) as an occasion to engage Asia Pacific Countries to collectively deliberate on issues concerning mainstreaming 3Rs in the overall policy, planning and development processes and shaping strategies. Shri Mishra further mentioned that over thousands of years, Indian culture and lifestyle has been shaped and influenced by our Vedas, scriptures, and various religious texts, which are replete with references to concepts of 3R – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle  that signify the traditional eco-ethical culture of ancient India.

During the event a book titled “Conservation in Lifestyle: Indian Heritage” was also released on the occasion of the 3R Forum, which collates together various references to concepts of 3R in Indian ancient texts and scriptures. The book also captures in fascinating detail the various ways in which Indian society has traditionally been practicing the concepts of 3R in letter and spirit, in their everyday lives.