BY HARNOOR GILL
Grade 11 student
Christ The King Catholic Secondary
Georgetown, Ontario
IT was quite a surprise to know about the ‘Swachh Bharat’ aka ‘Clean India’ project all the way from Qatar! Recently I received photos by youth ambassador, Kanishq Verma of Peace Welcome Club from Qatar about the project. After, I started searching for this project that Kanishq and his peers taken part in at Birla Public School in Qatar. I was very pleased to know that this project was well taken care by the BPS community while they inspire others and spread the word around to keep their surroundings clean. It’s amazing to know that this project has reached many goals, one of them being that of inspiring the country’s youth.
To my interest, I came to know that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ and this should be a lesson for everybody. For those, who don’t know about this project, it was started on October 2 by Modi. He commenced this project by cleaning the surroundings on his own at first. This is an extremely commendable project that people in India must involve themselves in so that they can keep their country clean. Let’s talk about how this can be accomplished practically.
Let us ask ourselves the question first about how to treat our community like our family? If your answer is yes, then you already know your job. For those whose answer is no, they should think BIG. For example, in most families, four people might have similar interests but they won’t have similar traits. If some of them don’t help to keep surroundings clean in the house, does the rest of the family stop cleaning? NO. The same example should be applied in our neighborhoods. Government officials who are paid to do the cleaning are clearly not doing it properly considering the amount of waste that is present on the sides of streets in India.
Since government employees don’t seem to be doing their job, why doesn’t the community set an example themselves to help keep the area clean. Instead of leaving the dirty streets and garbage around that causes people to get sick, why don’t people collectively clean their area and later take action against that employee? In today’s busy world, it is can sometimes be hard to utilize time for common community projects, however it is everybody’s responsibility to keep their surroundings clean for them and for the coming generations.
Government officials should be taking immediate action against those who are responsible for cleaning, but they do not do so. The state of Punjab, where my culture and heritage lies, should really take this project seriously instead of viewing it as merely a politically motivated event. Otherwise, this project might not be as successful as it is projected to be in India and abroad.
Youth can play a great role in this amazing creative project. In fact, I have recently noticed many students are taking part in the activities of cleanliness at their school and in their community. It could only be possible if they think that this project is not merely a school project, but one that is everybody’s responsibility to keep their surroundings clear of waste.
How realistic is this project? Well, people are flocking to participate in it, especially celebrities in India. Again, celebrities are there to motivate and inspire others to do the job. People need to realize its importance and teach their kids as well. We clean our house everyday, so we should clean our community as well where we live, play, study, work and breathe in!
https://www.facebook.com/SwachhBharatMissionGrameen
