Fortnight Campaign on Swachhata Hi Seva, 2024 Organizes by ICAR KVK, Nimbudera

Seva’ (SHS) campaign for 2024 with great enthusiasm and community engagement. The campaign, held from 17thSeptember to 2ndOctober 2024, embraced the theme ‘Swabhav Swachhata – Sanskaar Swachhata’, emphasizing the integration of cleanliness into individual behavior and cultural values. The campaign culminated in the observance of Swachh Bharat Diwas on 2nd October 2024, in honor of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary and his vision for a cleaner India. During the two-week campaign, the KVK undertook a series of activities aimed at promoting cleanliness and environmental stewardship across the North and Middle Andaman districts. The event witnessed the active participation of KVK staff, school students, local communities, and government officials. The campaign commenced with a pledge taken by the KVK staff, reaffirming their commitment to maintaining cleanliness in their workplaces and communities. This was followed by a symbolic tree plantation initiative, ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’, to raise awareness about the importance of environmental conservation.
To motivate the younger generation, an essay writing and art competition was organized for students of Govindpur Govt. Secondary School and ZP-Vivekananda Kendriya Vidyalaya, Basantipur, allowing them to express their ideas and visions for a cleaner and greener India. A beach cleaning drive was organized at Karmatang to clean up litter and plastic waste. As part of outreach efforts, cleanliness drives were held at Subhashgram Panchayat, Diglipur, and Karmatang, Mayabunder. Additionally, a health camp was organized at Karmatang with assistance from the health department.
On 2ndOctober 2024, Swachh Bharat Diwas was celebrated to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s 155thbirth anniversary, his ideals of cleanliness and simplicity aligning perfectly with the principles of the SHS campaign. The event was graced by the Headmistress of Govt. Secondary School, Govindpur, and prizes were distributed for the essay and art competitions. In the essay writing competition, Satyajit Baul secured 1stplace, followed by Nisha Surin in 2ndand Ronit Halder in 3rd. Similarly, in the art competition, 1stprize was won by Nandini Sikder, with Proniti Bairagi and M. Meera taking 2ndand 3rdplaces, respectively.
The campaign was organized under the overall guidance of Dr. Eaknath B. Chakurkar, Director of ICAR-CIARI, Sri Vijayapuram. About 120 farmers and farm women, along with 56 school students, participated in the campaign.