Government sets 'conservative target' of 1 crore essays on Clean India

NEW DELHI: The Centre has set a target of getting over one crore essays by September 8 from students, paramilitary personnel and the general public on cleanliness as part of PM Narendra Modi’s ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi’ call for a ‘New India by 2022’.

The department of school education and literacy is getting junior and senior school students to write the said 250-word essays on, ‘What Can I do for Clean India’.

The ministry of home affairs has been asked to impress upon chiefs of paramilitary forces like BSF, CRPF and ITBP to show “pro-active involvement” and issue instructions to ensure maximum participation of jawans and officers in the said essay-writing.

The National Cadet Corps (NCC) is doing the same, and so are the department of youth affairs and the ministry of panchayati raj. The general public is also being appealed to send essays to the MyGov portal.

As per a letter written by the Centre to all states and concerned ministries earlier this month, the one crore target for essays is a “conservative estimate” and the best essays would be rewarded at the national, state and district levels on October 2.

“Active participation in large numbers for this will be successful only by availing your active leadership and close monitoring...it is crucial for creating a massive Swachhta awareness. Another aim is to get 50,000 paintings (restricted to Class 1-5 students only) and more than 50,000 short films of 2-3 minutes duration on the issue of cleanliness,” the letter says. Ministries have also been asked to ensure “qualitative participations”.