swachh bharat_project report_anurag & abhishek
TRANSCRIPT
PROJECT REPORT
Swachh Bharat National Mission
Spreading School Level Awareness via Swachhta
Pledge Programs - 12
Team Members
1. Anurag Ghosh ([email protected])
2. Abhishek Halder([email protected])
LIST OF THE SCHOOLS WHERE PLEDGE PROGRAM WAS CONDUCTED
Name of the School Name of the Principal
Email ID Date of the pledge program
Number of students who took the pledge
Govt. Boy's SSS No. 3, Sarojini Nagar
Mr. S.L Sharma [email protected] 08.08.2016 411
Vinay Nagar Bengali senior secondary school
Mr. SukantaBhattacharjee
[email protected] 09.08.2016 1300
Sarvodaya Co-ed SSS, Safdarjung Enclave
Mrs. Vipla Sharma [email protected] 10.08.2016 700
Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya No. 1
Mr. K.P Singh [email protected] 06.08.2016 950
Kendriya Vidyalaya-NMR, JNU campus
V.K Tyagi [email protected] 16.08.2016 3000
Lal Bahadur Shastri Senior Secondary School
Mrs. Abha Mohan [email protected] 17.08.2016 600
Kendriya Vidyalaya, Vasant Kunj
Mr. Suresh Singh [email protected] 20.08.2016 430
Kendriya Vidyalaya, R.K Puram
Mr. Awadhesh Dubey [email protected] 17.08.2016 800
DAV Public School, Vasant Kunj
Mrs. Anju Puri [email protected] 19.08.2016 600
Govt. Boy's SSS, Vasant Kunj
Mr. Mahender Singh [email protected] 19.08.2016 1268
IDEA ESSAY
“When there is both inner and outer cleanliness, it approaches godliness”
This quote of Gandhiji is very enlightening, but even after years of Independence we have not
abided by his prophecy. We have achieved freedom but independence, in its true sense, will
only be accomplished when all citizens of the country join hands and contribute towards
making India clean. India aspires to become one of the leading nations in the world but to
achieve this goal a ‘Clean India’ is as much a necessity as a pre-requisite.
The year 2014 symbolizes a milestone in the history of cleanliness initiatives undertaken in
India becausea visionary man, Mr. Narendra Damodardas Modi stepped in as the Prime-
Minister of India. Known for his innovative and far-sighted ideas and thoughts, Mr. Modi
brought about a paradigm shift in the Government approach in managing the issue of
cleanliness and sanitation scenario in India. This is the first time any Prime Minister of India
has taken up this issue on mission mode. 2nd
October, 2014 was a landmark as this was the
day on which the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ was launched. The Prime-Minister optimistically
remarked,“If people of India can reach Mars with minimal expenditure, why can they not
keep their streets and colonies clean.”
From the very inception of this program, there has been consciousness about cleanliness
among the citizenry of this country. But the problem is much more deep-rooted. For more
than 65 years people had a casual and apathetic attitude towards cleanliness. It is high time
we act rather than think on it to fulfill our Father of the Nation’s wish of a clean India. Our
Prime Minister has taken a giant leap into the future by catapulting the cleanliness objective
into the hearts and minds of the people through this initiative to be able to present a gift of
‘Clean India’ to Gandhiji on his 150th
birth anniversary in 2019.We all aspire to see India
among the top nations of the world but we must be aware of the responsibilities at our end to
realize this dream. Every helping hand towards ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ will bolster the
efforts of our Prime Minister and help in taking India forward.
The success of this program depends on us, citizens of the country. India is known as the
country of many religions, the country of rich cultural heritage. We must strive towards
uplifting the image of our country.Discouraging ideologies and negative perception needs to
be changed radically. People in India have a general mindset that cleanliness is restricted to
the four-walls of their houses but have a cavalier attitude about cleanliness of the society and
environment they live and prosper in. We need to be much responsible and concerned and
need to develop an eco-friendly aptitude. We must consider our surroundings as our asset and
protect it considerately. To get things rolling in progression, transformationmust be from the
grass-root level so that the fruits of this Program start from the bottom to reach the top levels
of the socio-economic hierarchy. Realization of the gravity of this issue is the answer to
getting this program going. Besides, attitudinal change is the hallmark of effectiveness of any
social program. If our outlook and understanding of this program remains narrow and
unaltered, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan will remain a non-starter and be buried in files and
records as is the case with several past progressive government initiatives. To fulfill the
dream of making India clean, we must convert our cleanliness cognizance into a holistic all-
out attack to eradicate this societal blot.
Let’s discuss about how we executed our project of spreading awareness of Swachh Bharat
Mission among school children in our locality, South Delhi. Throughout the entire duration
of the project, there were numerous exciting experiences and vital take-away .It’s a privilege
to be nominated as student ambassadors of this great and noble initiative. We enjoyed every
bit of the project and we would want to associate ourselves with such forward-looking
government initiatives in the future too. We would like to share our learning experiences. We
got a chance to interact with various Principals of several schools, numerous number of
school children, some bureaucrats, the experience of which was equally exciting and
insightful. We were pleased to see that many children from primary to senior-secondary
school were aware of this noble initiative. We were overwhelmed to see that schools which
are considered as the temple of education are imparting knowledge about cleanliness in a
student-friendly and mind-pervasive ways. We got insights about the cleanliness situation in
South Delhi. While conducting an inside-out study in this area, we inferred that the outreach
of this program is reasonable.
OUR EXPERIENCE
Starting with the execution of the project, we tried contacting the schools over phone which
we found was not much effective in convincing and getting an appointment date with the
principals for the Pledge program. Therefore, we preferred visiting all the schools personally,
pitching the program details in front of the Principals and getting the date of conducting the
pledge program then and there. We found this to be more effective and engaging in
communicating the whole idea behind what we were asking for from the principals and the
management of the schools. We targeted the schools in the South Delhi in areas like Vasant
Kunj, Ramkrishna Puram, Safdarjung and Sarojini Nagar.
The principal of Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Sarvoday Bal Vidyalaya No. 1, Mr. K.P
Singh, was very welcoming and enthusiastic in conducting the Swachh Bharat Pledge
program in his school. He seemed a very practical man who believed in actions more than
words. We saw that the school was reasonably clean with hand wash basins and dustbins set
up at different locations in the schools.
The principal of the Government Boy’s Senior Secondary School No. 3 was very
encouraging. He was particular about the actual impact of Swachh Bharat Mission across age
groups and vouched for an attitudinal change towards cleanliness and sanitation.
Vinay Nagar Bengali Senior Secondary School welcomed this initiative to be conducted in
the school in a more engaging fashion. The principal was friendly but serious about making
this program more impactful among the students. We observed that the school premises were
clean and the students were willing to participate in the cleanliness activity.
The principal of Sarvodaya Co-ed Senior Secondary School, Mrs. Vipla Sharma, opined
that after the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was initiated, something is being done rather than
nothing before that. Though, she was not present on the day of the pledge program due to
training that she had to attend, she instructed the other staff of the school to provide a
supportive environment to enable us to conduct the pledge program in a non-obstructive
manner.
The principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya(JNU campus), Mr. V.K Tyagi, enlightened us about
the cleanliness milieu in the state of Meghalaya where he was earlier posted. We observed
that he had maintained the school premises clean by emulating the same practices that people
in Meghalaya traditionally follow. This school was one of the well-kept schools among all
the schools that we visited.
Lal-Bahadur Shastri School, R.K.Puram truly reflects the values of the Ex-Prime Minister
Lal Bahadur Shastri with regard to its openness to constructive and innovative thoughts and
ideas for the students’ welfare. The principal of the school, Mrs. Abha Mohan as well as the
vice-principal wanted to engage as many students as possible in the pledge program that we
told them about. Unfortunately, rains washed out the morning assembly on the date of the
pledge program. This did not discourage the school management from providing us with
another date on which the pledge program where conducted in the school with Swachh
Bharat banners. We also shared some videos of Swachh Bharat with the school management
which they can show to the students as per their convenience.
The principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya Vasantkunj, Mr. Suresh Singh was enthusiastic about
the Swachh Bharat pledge program being conducted in his school. He provided us the date of
the pledge program instantly. He was very cordial and was of the view that the Swachh
Bharat Mission has definitely brought about a bit of change, if not more, because now the
people are at least thinking about it rather than carefree attitude towards it earlier.
The principal, Mr. Awadhesh Dubey, and the vice-principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya R.K
Puram enquired in detail about the pledge program that we conducted in their school before
providing us with the date. They also informed us that various competitions are conducted
regularly on the Clean India campaign in their school.
The principal of DAV Public School Vasantkunj, Mrs. Anju Puri, pro-actively took up our
initiative as her own and scheduled the date of the pledge program instantly in-spite of the
busy schedule of other events planned for the students. We came across posters and quotes on
Swachh Bharat Mission on the school notice boards which made our belief firm that the DAV
Public School Vasantkunj is deeply involved in spreading awareness among school children.
Government Boy’s Senior Secondary School Vasantkunj stood apart from the lot. The
principal of the school was a pragmatic man who wanted to make sure that the Mission
objective gets inculcated in the value system of the students. After we administered the oath
of Swachh Bharat, He made it compulsory for the students to write down whatever they can
recollect about the program and the pledge in the answer sheets of the exam that was
scheduled just after the assembly in which the pledge was conducted. It was an enriching
experience to interact with school management which differed in behaviors, attitudes and
approaches towards the Swachh Bharat Mission. We acknowledge and thank each of the
schools for their support in conducting the Pledge program successfully.
RECOMMENDATIONS FROM OUR SIDE
Mahatma Gandhi had rightly said, “Sanitation is more important than Independence”. We
feel we need to harp on the fact that cleanliness begins from our end. We Indians need to
make a revolutionary move to make this program achieve unparalleled success. It should be a
mutual effort from both the government’s and citizens’ sides. We must bear in mind that
several programs initiated by previous governments have remained non-starters because the
citizenry did not pro-actively put up their hands and take steps to make them successful. Let’s
come together and join hands for the collective well-being of masses and our Nation. Our
recommendations range from generic to specific points. Considering the Swachh Bharat
Program holistically, the generic points speak of the roadblocks and suggestions for
furthering cleanliness in our country while the specific points specify suggestions with regard
to detailed and pin-pointed aspects.
Generic roadblocks and recommendations:
Some of the roadblocks that must be curbed are:
Lack of focus on behavioral and attitudinal changes
Lack of Effective and efficient monitoring agency
Lack of expertise and scientific knowledge about biology and
ecosystems.
Lack of political will and decisive decision making.
Some Recommendations:
No mission is a success until mass participation is there. So voluntary
participation of masses with clear intention is required.
Engagement of the masses in the social activitiesrelated to cleanliness
from time to time. Awareness must be spread to enhance the
engagement of the masses, and to ensure the Swachh Bharat Mission is
projected in a substantial manner.
Workshops must be conducted in the localities, public places etc. This
would result into attitudinal change among the people of India. NGOs
must be involved in a more appealing way to bring a change in the
perception in the minds of the people. They must be made conscious
that the environment is their property too, and they are the stakeholders
of the same.
Strict rules must be enforced to ensure cleanliness and people whodo
not abide by the rules must be penalized. Monitoring bodies should be
more vigilant. In case there is paucity of workforce, government can
take the help of NGOs and private bodies.
Identify the key places which require immediate attention for
cleanliness like places of historical importance, places where there is
huge footfall etc.
We need to focus equally upon cleanliness situation in each of the two
areas:
1) URBAN
2) RURAL
IN RURAL AREAS :
1. Promoting Sanitation in Schools
According to a report, 1.01 lakh Government schools do not have
toilets for girls, 1.52 lakh schools do not have toilets for boys and a
1.64 lakh schools have dysfunctional toilets. Poor sanitation facilities
lead to drop out from schools, especially among girls in the 5-14 age
bracket. Retention of the girl child in schools has increased by 30% in
schools with access to proper sanitation facilities.
2. Educating the people about the current scenario & stressing on the
importance of a cleaner environment for them as well as their kids.
3. Asking the Gram Panchayats to hold weekly cleanliness drive in
which every family should voluntarily participate.
4. Promoting the use of bio-toilets as they are less costly &
environment-friendly
IN URBAN AREAS:
1. We can see a lot of litter being thrown by people on the open road.
To tackle this situation, dustbins must be provided at appropriate
places.
2. The Resident Welfare Associations of various colonies should form
small groups so that they can clean their colonies regularly.
3. Advertisements are a good way to attract people. People can be
informed about the 'Swachh Bharat Mission' and why is it necessary
for us as well as for the country, through advertisements.
Lastly all political parties must work hand in hand to make this a
success. They must keep in mind that political vindictiveness has
resulted nothing other than a hotchpotch. They must work together and
cooperate for a greater good.
Specific roadblocks and recommendations:
Some of the roadblocks that must be curbed out:
There were no roadblocks as such while conducted thisprogram in the
schools. There was a formidable response from the schools. The
students of many government schools were aware about the Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan, as these schools have been promoting this Mission
among the students in their own ways. But what we realized is that
students of some private schools were not aware of this program.
These schools had an indifferent attitude about our pledge program
because it appeared as if there is a mindset in theseschools that their
premises are already clean and the children are aware of the
importance of cleanliness. The government must look into this and do
away with the sense of complacency.
Another thing we realized while interacting with the principals of
different schools is that they were not willing to give more than half an
hour to conduct the program. If we were given a few hours or a day’s
time for this program, we could have made this program much more
effective for we had many ideas which we wanted to communicate to
the students which we could not due to lack of time.
Some Recommendations:
The government should try to position the program in all the schools.
The awareness of this program could be further enhanced by engaging
more student ambassadors who should try to engage all the schools
regarding this noble initiative. While working on this project we
gathered some statistics that 80% of schools that we approached for the
program, are aware of the great initiative and welcomed us, whereas
20% of the schools are totally ignorant about the Mission. They even
did not want to associate with this initiative. And more shockingly,
these are mostly the affluent private schools of our locality.
A monitoring body can be set to ensure that all the schools,
irrespective of the fact that it is a private or a government school
should conduct this program as it’s a Nation-building Mission. This
monitoring body must send personnel to schools from time to time to
monitor the execution of the Swachh Bharat Mission.
Government must conduct some workshops for all the schools along
with some seminars. These workshops and seminars must be made
mandatory to attend. Government must ensure that all the schools are
100% compliant to the cleanliness guidelines issued.
Another point we want to raise is that this kind of student-driven
awareness program is very effective. While we were conducting the
pledge program, the principals of many schools told us that their
students pay heed to sayings of the persons who come from outside. So
it would be a good initiative if this kind of stimulating program is
conducted all throughout the year, even in those schools where the
program has been conducted once. Paying a one-time visit won’t cater
to the purpose of this Mission.
Various school students can be engaged along with the teachers. Point
of contacts, one from the student body and another from the teachers
can be appointed for this program. Every school should have this 2-
member body who will present report to the Government of India from
time-to-time. They must be also given the responsibility to spread
awareness regarding cleanliness in the locality and premises of the
school. In this way the outreach of the program will be enhanced.
Marketing about this program can be made more effective.
Government can put up advertisements about this program in the
newspapers and other forms of media operating in today’s technology-
driven world.
Lastly, to encourage the school students to take this forward, school-
level cleanliness competitions must be held from time to time. This
would guarantee much more participation of the schools and students
in pursuit of ‘clean-to-win’ urge will inculcate the habits of
cleanliness.
OUR ACHIEVEMENTS
We were successful in covering all the schools, organizing the pledge program and delivering
the values of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
We aimed at an inspiring pledge-cum-awareness program and have lived up to it.
Our key take-away is the smile of the kids and their promise of making India clean.
- Let’s make India clean.
EXHIBITS RELATED TO THIS PROGRAM
Graphical analysis of the number of students who participated in the pledge in each
school
SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE PROGRAM
