Institutions lead by example of Swach Bharat

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An award ceremony based on Swachhta Ranking 2017 of Higher Educational Institutions was held in New Delhi recently. Union Human Resource Development Minister, Prakash Javadekar gave away the prizes to the awardees.

Congratulating the awardees of Swachhta Ranking 2017 of Higher Educational Institutions, the minister said that the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is the most significant cleanliness campaign by the Government of India. Under this mission more than four crore and eighty lakhs toilets were constructed in India since 2 nd  October, 2014 and more than two lakhs villages are now open defecation free.

The minister said the students are cleanliness ambassadors and along with the support of people and institutions they will lead the vision of clean India of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also stressed to make higher educational institutions a smart campus, focusing on cleanliness as well as waste management. Save water, save electricity, promote cleanliness and manage waste to become smart campus. Javadekar praised the efforts made by the various departments of ministry of HRD for organizing such ranking system which is in line with Swachh Bharat mission and contribute
towards a cleaner India. The minister urged people to participate in these programes to inform others too.

The initiative was an exercise to rank higher educational institutions (HEIs) on the basis of cleanliness and hygiene has been undertaken and concluded. Parameters for a clean campus were formulated, like student/toilet ratio, kitchen hygiene, availability of running water, modernity of toilet &  kitchen equipment, campus green cover, garbage disposal in hostels and academic buildings, disposal techniques, water supply systems and also a certain weightage to whether the institutions has adopted any neighboring locality or village to spread awareness & activities in Swachhta.

About 3500 HEIs responded to the online invitation, submitting all their details as per format. The top 174 institutions were shortlisted as per criteria and officials from UGC and AICTE inspected the premises of all 174 institutions. Top 25 institutions across various categories like universities, technical institutions, colleges and government institutions were selected and they were awarded on the occasion which will help generate peer pressure amongst institutions in the all important area of cleanliness.

Clusters of villages have been adopted by certain HEIs under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan programme in consultation with District Collectors. All Collectors and HEIs under the programme were invited to participate in the Best Collector & HEI Award by converting, before 31 st August 2017. The initiative also included choosing One Village into Open Defecation Free, with solid and liquid waste facility. Many participated in the exercise and finally, 5 districts completed the exercise – Medak, Jhabua, Warangal, Ajmer and Indore. The Collectors made presentations in MHRD on 5 th  September 2017 on their achievement. Those 5 Collectors along with the HEIs assisting them were awarded on the occasion.

Among the dignitaries  K.K Sharma Secretary, Department of Higher Education, V.L.V.S.S. Subba Rao, Economic Advisor MHRD, Sh. Anil D. Sahasrabudhe, Chairman AICTE, Dr. V.S. Chauhan ,Chairman UGC, Dr. Manpreet Singh Manna, Director AICTE were present on the occasion. R. Subrahmanyam Additional Secretary (Technical Education) gave vote of thanks on the occasion.