Clean, Green & Fit Village: A Popular Campaign Across State

Sanghamitra Goswami

The ongoing ‘Clean and Green Village’ campaign being run by MyGov Assam has made significant inroads into every nook and corner of the State, contributing hugely to the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’, a dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The campaign, now upgraded into ‘Clean, Green and Fit Village’, has already covered around 200 villages and over 100 more on the pipeline. A lot of villages where the campaign was launched have adopted various means of Swachhata making it a part of their day-to-day life.

Assam is known for its idyllic rural villages, filled with an abundance of greenery. However, with rapid urbanisation and modernisation, the natural greenery and cleanliness of these villages comes at a risk of being compromised. Realising this immediate need of the hour, the State-wide ‘Clean and Green Village’ campaign was rolled out across Assam in 2018. Run by an energetic team of MyGov Assam under the direct supervision of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, the campaign is strongly inspired by the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ and it strives to transform every village in Assam into a clean, green and plastic-free village.

Thanks to the ‘Clean and Green Village’ campaign, Swachhata has turned into a Statewide movement in Assam. It has become a trendsetter in increasing public awareness on the importance of cleanliness in our day-to-day life. Several villages have pledged to turn their village into a clean and green one, while deciding to fight against plastic pollution at the same time.

Such a village, Belona in Barpeta district has made the entire State proud by being applauded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his tweet. It was the first village to be declared ‘Clean and Green’ under the campaign. Going a step ahead, residents of the village already shunned use of single-use plastics besides adopting principles of ‘Swachhata’. Shops in the village use newspaper carry bags in place of single-use plastic bags to combat plastic pollution. This has led to the village being a shining example for all the neighbouring villages.

Dewalaya Gayan Gaon in Sivasagar district is also thriving to realise the overall objective of ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ by playing an active part in the ‘Clean and Green’ (C&G) campaign. Youth of the village have planted around 200 neem saplings alongside the road with a plan make it a ‘Neem Village’. Besides, women of the village come out after their household chores to take part in regular cleaning drives in the villages.

Belona and Dewalaya Gayan Gaon are among the several villages that have adopted means of Swachhata, especially after the launching of the ‘C&G’ campaign in the respective hamlets. Inspired, many others are eager to join the campaign for making Assam clean and green again. The journey has only begun!

In the first phase, the ‘Clean and Green Village’ campaign reached one village in each of the 33 districts of Assam. In the second phase, it has covered one village in each of 125 constituencies. The C&G campaign has been reaching out to every nook and corner of the state and bringing the community together towards a common goal — Swachhata.

The campaign has thus proved to be a huge success in spreading mass awareness on the effects of individual impact on the environment. Not only has it received whole hearted support from the local people, but has also inspired many to transform their respective villages into cleaner, greener and pollution-free living spaces. One such village is Uttarkuchi in Baksa district. The villagers are working towards bringing innovative solutions to beat plastic pollution. Instead of single-use plastic, they have resorted to the use of eco-friendly single-use plates and bowls made of leaves of various trees using an age-old technique.

It may be mentioned here that various departments are working in active coordination in the ‘Clean and Green Village’ campaign led by MyGov Assam. Departments such as Public Health Engineering (PHE), Forest, Sports and Youth Welfare, Pollution Control Board and respective district authorities have extended support by facilitating and sponsoring the campaign.

Forest Man of India Jadav Payeng and environmentalists Chandra Kanta Basumatary and Ananda Khataniar have also joined hands with the Forest and Environment Department in this endeavour. They are constantly motivating the villagers into adopting eco-friendly practices to keep their areas neat and clean.

Meanwhile, with the launch of the ‘Fit India’ movement nationally, Assam was prompt to amalgamate it with the ongoing drive by naming it ‘Clean, Green and Fit Village’ campaign. With support from Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC), volleyballs and nets will be distributed among the youth clubs across Assam for the growth of sports talent in the State. Altogether 115 villages have been brought under the campaign where the ONGC will install solar lights in select villages. A total of 20 solar lights have already been installed in five villages – Pokajora in Majuli district, Longpotiya in Charaideo district, Dewalaya Gayan Gaon in Sivasagar district, Sokiyal in Golaghat district and Khaspur in Cachar district.

Along with the developmental initiatives, several villages have also been identified as having immense tourism potential. Some of these villages are Sokiyal in Golaghat district, Khaspur in Cachar district, Joyhing in Lakhimpur district, Natun Tekela Chiring near Dibrugarh town, and Gopalpur in South Salmara-Mankachar district to name a few.

To summarise, the ‘Clean, Green and Fit Village’ campaign has set a benchmark for all in creating mass awareness on cleanliness, pollution, and health practices. Its positive impact could already be seen from the large number of people working as teams to include their villages in the list of Assam’s ‘Clean, Green and Fit Village’.

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