Aiming for Clean M’luru and DK! 4th Phase of RKM ‘Swacchata Abhiyana’ Launched
Aiming for Clean Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada (DK)! 4th Phase of RamaKrishna Mission ‘Swacchata Abhiyana’ Launched on Friday, 3 November at 10 am at the RamaKrishna Mission Auditorium by Ramesh Kumar Jigajinagi- Union Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation; along with other dignitaries on the dais namely- Swami Jitakamanandaji- Secretary, RamaKrishna Mission, Mangaluru; MP Nalin Kumar Kateel; Capt. Ganesh Karnik- Hon. MLC; Ms Meenakshi Shantigodu- President, DK Zilla Panchayat; Dr M R Ravi- CEO, DK Zilla Panchayat; Dr N Vinaya Hegde- Chancellor, Nitte University; H Kumar-Managing Director, MRPL, Mangaluru; and D R Patil-Former MLA, Gadag.
Mangaluru: In response to the call given to the nation by the honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also special request from Govt. of India, Mangaluru Ramakrishna Mission initiated “Swacch Mangaluru Abhiyan” 2 and half years ago. The Abhiyan which received a tremendous positive response from the people for this initiative since its inception vouches for the fact that this movement is by the people and for the people and hence has now successfully stepped into its 4th phase. 4th phase of this Abhiyan will be inaugurated on 5th November 2017. As a continuation of the previous 3 drives, the 4th phase is more comprehensive and involves more sectors the details of which are given below:
This is a very good initiative taken by Ramakrishna Mission with a strong motto to see that Mangaluru is kept clean under PM Modi’s “Swachh Bharath Abhiyan”. Remember when PM Modi had said, “Is cleaning only the responsibility of the karamcharis? Do citizens of India have no role in this? We have to change this mindset. We reached Mars. No PM or Minister went. It was the people who did it, our scientists who did it. So can’t we create a Clean India?. If this is evaluated by a photo-opportunity, then we would be doing a disservice to the nation. We all must come together and do this (clean India) wherever we are. This is not about Modi… Modi is only one of its 1.2 billion people… This is a people’s task. India can do it. People of India can do it.”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi while launching his nationwide cleanliness campaign, the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ or ‘Clean India Campaign’ on 2 October 2014 (Gandhi Jayanthi Day) had asked India’s 1.25 billion people to join the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ and promote it to everyone. And taking Modi’s words seriously the members and volunteers of Ramakrishna Mission took PM Modi’s did launch this Clean Drive Project of 40 plus weeks in order to have Clean India/Clean Mangaluru.Yes, volunteers under the guidance of Ramakrishna Mission are doing a great job of cleaning, but it’s also the responsibility of the general public to see that they don’t litter the place again which has been cleaned with dedication and community service by these volunteers.
And once again this year too, aiming for a Clean Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada (DK), the 4th Phase of RamaKrishna Mission ‘Swacchata Abhiyan’ was launched on Friday, 3 November at 10 am at the RamaKrishna Mission Auditorium by Ramesh Kumar Jigajinagi- Union Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation; along with other dignitaries on the dais namely- Swami Jitakamanandaji- Secretary, RamaKrishna Mission, Mangaluru; MP Nalin Kumar Kateel; Capt. Ganesh Karnik- Hon. MLC; Ms Meenakshi Shantigodu- President, DK Zilla Panchayat; Dr M R Ravi- CEO, DK Zilla Panchayat; Dr N Vinaya Hegde- Chancellor, Nitte University; H Kumar-Managing Director, MRPL, Mangaluru; and D R Patil-Former MLA, Gadag. The programme began with a vedic chanting and prayers.
In his welcome address, MLC Capt. Ganesh Karnik applauded the efforts put in by the Swamis of Ramakrishna Mission, and also the volunteers in making PM Modi’s of Swachh Bharath dream come true. Karnik also mentioned that even after 70 plus years of India’s Independence not every Indian citizen has proper drinking water and toilet facilities, and it was brought to the notice of Ramesh Jigajinagi who was the chief guest. In his address to the audience, Swami Jitakamanandaji- Secretary, RamaKrishna Mission, Mangaluru said, “Swacch Bharath Abhiyan was initiated all over India on the Gandhi Jayanti Day, i.e. 2nd October 2014. The Central government has undertaken several initiatives to effectively carry on this Abhiyan at different levels. As it is a public movement unless common mass and the general public are involved it will not see the light of the day.”
“Realizing this, the Central Government requested several organizations to actively take part in the mission along with their followers. When the Ramakrishna Mission Headquarters at Belur in West Bengal received such a request it forwarded the same to all its branch centres. This set the ball rolling in Mangaluru with Ramakrishna Mission actively starting Swacch Mangaluru Abhiyan, and we feel proud that we are stepping into the 4th phase of this campaign. Thanks to the active support and cooperation of the friends and well-wishers of our Ashrama, the Abhiyan was a grand success in creating an awareness about hygiene and cleanliness among the general public. Hence apart from sweeping the streets clean, several seminars and workshops on the theme of Swacch Bharath, Art Camps, competitions for students and children, rallies and door to door campaign by the distribution of awareness literature made our initiative meaningful. We got a good feedback from our volunteers and the general public on our three phases, so we are continuing with the 4th phase.” added Swami.
Briefing about the Abhiyan, Swami Ekagamanandaji, Co-ordinator of Ramakrishna Mission Abhiyan said, “We never thought that we would reach so far and reach greater heights in our campaign for Cleaner India/Cleaner Mangaluru. In our 4th phase we have introduced couple of new initiatives like Swachh Chinthanna, Swachh Sparde, Swachh Manas, and also taking our cleanliness drive to rural areas under the banner ” Swachh Dakshina Kannada”. We have already earmarked interested teams and have interacted with the members of each team. Ashram will coordinate each team’s work with an appointed coordinator. On 5th November 2017, at 9:00 am Union Minister of State for Skill Development Ananth Kumar Hegde will flag off the Swacch Mangaluru Abhiyan in the presence of MP Nalin Kumar Kateel. Swami Muktidanandaji, Trustee of Ramakrishna Math & Mission, Kumar H, MD of MRPL and Dr N Vinay Hegde, Chancellor of Nitte University will be the Special Invitees. Capt Ganesh Karnik, Mentor of the Abhiyan will be present. The cleanliness drive will be around our Ashram area and Mangaldevi”
In his inaugural address, Chief guest Ramesh Kumar Jigajinagi said, ” I have taken a oath and a firm decision that I won’t miss any Swachh Bharath Campaign programme organized by Ramakrishna Mission- because they are doing a great job, and its a pleasure to be a guest for such kind of community service project. We should all know that maintaining cleanliness is not just government’s job, it’s a job of every citizen. If we can keep our homes clean, why not take the initiative of also keep our surroundings and City clean. The Central govt has already planned to construct nearly five crore 21 lakhs toilets all over India, and also in Karnataka, where 70% of the toilets have completed”.
” I also want to bring to your notice that in the North, women have taken a strong stand that they would not marry, unless the bride grooms do not provide them with a decent and clean toilets. Now that Ramakrishna Mission has taken up this Swachh Abhiyan, it is not only their task but the involvement and work of every citizen of this town to join in their efforts to keep Mangaluru and DK clean. The government has already sanctioned in its budget Rs 13,948 crores for the development and infrastructure of Clean India, including constructing of new toilets. My support for this Abhiyan is not just for this launching ceremony, but will support it whenever my help is needed-that’s my promise” added Jigajinagi.
Other dignitaries like Dr Vinay Hegde, M R Ravi, D R Patil, H Kumar also spoke and urged the community to take part in the Swachh Abhiyan launched by Ramakrishna Mission and make Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada the cleanest places to live.
Following is the overview of the Ramakrishna Mission “Swacchata Abhiyan: Phase -4:
Swach Mangaluru – Daily Abhiyan:
4th phase will see 60 groups of awakened citizens visiting 30000 households in 10 months with the message of awareness. Each group will undertake door-to-door campaign from 5 pm to 7 pm in different areas of Mangalore each evening. They will distribute handbills on awareness, train the households about segregation of garbage, solid waste management, involving public in different localities in Swacchata Abhiyan and community development.
Swacch Bharath – Shramadan:
A group of dedicated volunteers numbering from 100 to 200 will take up cleanliness drives on every Sunday for the next 35 weeks in different parts of Mangalore city. Along with cleaning roads and public places, they will also clean drains, distribute awareness handbills, cleaning public toilets, erecting direction sign boards, repair and renovation of bus shelters, auto shelters and removing illegal flex banners and hoardings and other works benefitting the common public.
Swacch Manas – Student Training Programme:
To train the present students/children into responsible citizens of the future, Ashram will undertake Swacch Manas training & orientation programmes in about 100 schools. About 500 programmes will be organized in one year. The students will be trained in cleanliness, hygiene etc. About 5 students will be selected from each school as Agents of Change and they will be given special training through seminars and workshops and involve them in the nation building process. A dedicated band of trainers will work on this project.
On 4th November 2017 at 9:30 am, Swacch Manas Programme will be launched by Swami Muktidanandaji, Trustee, Ramakrishna Math & Mission and President of Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata will flag of the Programme. Swami Sarvasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Ashrama Rajkot and Prof Raghothama Rao of Bangalore will be the resource persons. Swami Jitakamanandaji will be delivering the key note address. About 600 Engineering students will participate in the Swacch Manas.
Swacch Gram: Swacch Dakshina Kannada:
Past three drives were centered around Mangalore city and its cleanliness. 4th phase will be expanded to include about 100 villages in Dakshina Kannada dist. This will be carried out in association with Zilla Panchayat and other interested public in the respective village.
If anyone is interested in joining this “Swachh Mangaluru for Swachh Bharath” programme undertaken by Ramakrishna Mission can call 0824-2414412 or 9448353162