CLEAN-UP YOUR VILLAGE CLEAN-UP YOUR WORLD - 2012 I find it very interesting that Mr. Modi is starting a Clean-up India Campaign exactly two years later than the Ladakhi students planned the same under the banner of Ladakh Students Environmental Action Forum LEAF. You will be amazed at the striking similarity of the action plan! I cannot say that Mr Modi got the idea from Ladakh but I did present this idea of a world clean-up day (initiated by youth of Ladakh/India) at the United Nations High Level meeting in New York on April 2nd 2012. However most unfortunately, within Ladakh this plan was also politicised (.. just like so many other good plans) and it could not grow to the scale that could have made every Ladakhi and Indian proud. Here I am presenting the Concept Paper that I wrote for this Clean-up Campaign when I was helping the formation of LEAF in 2012. The last para first, for those of you who may not have time to read the whole, although I would recommend you do read the whole and comment: CLEAN UP INDIA DAY After the Ladakh event, we hope to use this (well documented event) as an example to inspire and start a youth campaign in colleges and Universities in other parts of India… culminating finally, and hopefully, in Gandhi Jayanti (2nd October) 2013 being observed as a nationwide Clean-up India Day. The idea is that moved by the campaigns college and university students would fan out to many nearby schools on little campaigns of their own, each school student would then move his/her own family members/siblings so that finally on the 2nd of October 2013 Indian youth come out to make the Indian streets and streams less than the shameful sight that they now present. Hopefully from India it could go to a World Clean-up Day where on a certain day countries in the developing world start with cleaning up their streets and in the developed world with their streams, industry, air… This could become an annual environmental action feature, progressively moving in sophistication from clean streets to clean streams to clean air to clean (GHG free) atmosphere. This would also perhaps become an amusing story of the ‘dirty mountain people’ of this ‘remote and backward’ Ladakh starting a nationwide/worldwide Clean-up Movement. Well if Chipko was started by ordinary village women hugging trees then this might not be a total impossibility either. The idea is not that a one day or one week’s clean-up will achieve much cleaning up, but that the event will touch and leave and impact on many growing young minds so that when they grow up they will be on the solutions side of the environmental crises and not on the pollution side. And heres the original document: CLEAN-UP YOUR VILLAGE CLEAN-UP YOUR WORLD CONCEPT PAPER Background: Ridden with environmental crises, whether it is local streets or streams or the air and atmosphere the world is gasping for solutions. If guided and mobilised youth of the world have a great potential to be on the solution side of things. Youth of Ladakh have always played a constructive role in solving issues facing themselves and the society. In the last three years the Ladakhi students studying in Jammu, Chandigarh and Delhi have been organising seminars to discuss and find solutions to various issues facing the students community. And of late they have decided not only to discuss what others should do for them but also what they can and must do for others… for Ladakh, the country and the world. The Action Clean up the Village Day/Campaign: This summer during their vacations in the month of June the students have decided to go home and act. They have formed village groups that would launch an environmental campaign to clean up their own villages in Ladakh. The campaign will also try to identify causes and raise awareness and sensitivity towards the issues. In doing all this they will seek the help and coordinated engagement of all governmental and non-governmental agencies. Clean up Ladakh week Campaign After the village campaigns starting from the Word Environment Day on June 5th, they would converge in Leh the capital city and present the experience to those in the city in a big forum. And this is expected to inspire other stake holders in Leh city and together, if all goes well, they will celebrate this year’s Thungskar Tuschen (HH Dalai Lama’s birthday 6th July 2012) as Clean-up Ladakh Day/week. Clean up India day Then, after the Ladakh event, we hope to use this (well documented event) as an example to inspire and start a youth campaign in colleges and Universities in other parts of India… culminating finally, and hopefully, in Gandhi Jayanti or 2nd October 2013 being observed as a nationwide Clean-up India Day. The idea is that moved by the campaigns college and university students would fan out to many nearby schools on little campaigns of their own, each school student would then move his/her own family members/siblings so that finally on the 2nd of October 2013 Indian youth come out to make the Indian streets and streams less than the shameful sight that they now present. Hopefully from India it could go to a World Clean-up Day where on a certain day countries in the developing world start with cleaning up their streets and in the developed world with their streams, industry, air… This could become an annual environmental action feature, progressively moving in sophistication from clean streets to clean streams to clean air to clean (GHG free) atmosphere. This would also perhaps become an amusing story of the ‘dirty mountain people’ of this ‘remote and backward’ Ladakh starting a nationwide/worldwide Clean-up Movement. Well if Chipko was started by ordinary village women hugging trees then this might not be a total impossibility either. The idea is not that a one day or one week’s clean-up will achieve much cleaning up, but that the event will touch and leave and impact on many growing young minds so that when they grow up they will be on the solutions side of the environmental crises and not on the POLLUTION SIDE of things.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 16:53:15 +0000