Assam Governor Prof Jagdish Mukhi led a series of swachhta initiatives at Gauhati University conducted by Guwahati refinery.
As part of Swachhta Fortnight being observed at the Refinery, Prof Mukhi inaugurated a plantation drive, inaugurated sanitary napkin incinerators at the University’s girls’ hostels and handed over dustbins for use at the hostels of the University during a programme organized at the Birinchi Kumar Baruah Auditorium at Gauhati University on Saturday.
Addressing the gathering, Prof Mukhi said that since 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been leading the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan – across the nation with the vision to transform India into a cleaner and greener country.
After its launch, the nation-wide programme has gained much popularity among the masses.
Prof Mukhi also said that under Swachh Bharat Mission, all the households of the State have been provided with toilet facility to declare the state as Open Defecation Free.
“A sense of responsibility has been evoked among the people through the Clean India Movement and citizens are now becoming active partners in cleanliness drives across the nation,” he said.
“As a result of this, the dream of a ‘Clean India’ once seen by Mahatma Gandhi has begun to take a concrete shape,” he added.
“Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the spontaneous participation of the people across the nation has integrated the people of this largest democracy of the world as it strengthened the sense of nationalism among ourselves,” Prof Mukhi further added.
The Governor hailed the steps taken by Indian Oil as part of its corporate social responsibility to conduct plantation drive along with its several other initiatives for the university students.
He said that the steps taken will have far reaching affect in mobilizing the students who are the potential force to the cause of the society.
Prof Mukhi also added that he believed that the programmes carried out as part of observance of Swachhta Pakhwada will leave a lasting impact on all the participants; most importantly the students and the programme will trigger the inner sense and motivate all to contribute their bit in terms of generating further awareness among all for the cause of a clean and green India.
It may be mentioned that as part of the plantation drive, Guwahati refinery will plant 1000 saplings of fruit-bearing and medicinal plants at various locations of the University.
The Governor also distributed prizes to the winning participants of an essay competition organised among the students on the theme Swachh Bharat.
Vice Chancellor of Gauhati University Prof Pratap Jyoti Handique and executive director of Guwahati Refinery S Manchanda also spoke on the occasion.