Adv. V. K. Prasanth, Mayor, Thiruvananthapuram City
Air Marshal R K S Bhadauyria, AVSM, VM,
AOC-in-C, Southern Air Command
Lt. Gen. Thomas Mathew, PVSM, AVSM [Retd]
Dr Dahwal, Director, Indian Institute of Space &Technology
Col.P.S.K.Nair[Retd], President, Ex-Service Officers Association
Col. N.P. Chandran, Vice President
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ellavarkum Ente namaskaram,
I am very happy to address you as Chief Guest at the
Ex-Service Officers' Association's observance of the Flagship programme ‘Swachch Bharat Mission’ at Colachel Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram.
Let me at the outset, compliment the Ex-Service Officers' Association for having organized this programme to highlight the activities taken up under Swachch Bharat Abhiyan. This initiative does not surprise me, since areas under the Armed Forces have a reputation for being among the cleanest in any locality. Therefore, your interest in Swachch Bharat is only a very natural response to the idea of a better and cleaner India.
As an organization of former officers of the Armed Forces, this Association has been disseminating useful information for the benefit of veteran officers settled in Thiruvananthapuram since 1984. It is commendable that the Association has also conducted programmes to motivate school students to join the Armed Forces in connection with the recent Army Day celebrations.
As we all know, our beloved Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi had announced in 2014, his desire to make our country the cleanest land on earth by the year 2019, when we would celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Thus, on Gandhi Jayanthi Day of 2014, we launched the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, which gave our people a better awareness on the need for a clean environment.
The Swachch Bharat Abhiyan has gained nationwide acceptance and its appeal is increasing day by day. It was good to see all sections of people including students joining the campaign, which is also a fight against pollution, a silent killer. By ensuring a clean environment, we are guarding our society against such threats. Therefore, I feel that the Swachchta activity should become a habit and a way of life for all of us in future too.
The Ex-Service Officers' Association's decision to involve the student community in the Swachch Bharat programme is laudable, since the youth of today will be able to carry out these activities well in the coming years. I understand that a competition was organized among students of Engineering Colleges to design low cost waste management system. I feel this is a brilliant idea, since lack of effective waste management is a major issue in society. Most of us do not realize that accumulation of waste has been causing so many health issues in society and the key to the control of these diseases lies in effective and scientific waste management. Considering this fact, we have also installed Waste management systems in Kerala Raj Bhavan.
Here, I think it will not be out of place to mention a word or two about how we carried out Swachch Bharat initiatives in Kerala Raj Bhavan. At least some of you who had attended the At Home function at Kerala Raj Bhavan day before yesterday would have noticed that we did not use paper or plastic cups or plates. In fact, soon after I assumed office as Governor, we decided to curtail the use of Mineral Water bottles. After ensuring availability of safe drinking water we said NO to bottled water. Today, Kerala Raj Bhavan is plastic free and adheres to Green Protocol in all major functions.
Recently, when students of Lakshmibai National College of Physical Education offered to clean our premises during the Swachchta Fortnight, I could happily and proudly tell them that they had very little of cleaning work to do at Raj Bhavan, since our campus was always kept clean. However, we allowed them to plant some saplings here. Our policy is to plant ten trees, when we were compelled to cut one tree. To avoid cutting trees for electrical safety, we have carried out underground cabling of power lines. In addition to such measures, Kerala Raj Bhavan has shown a model in encouraging organic farming on the available land.A Medicinal Plant Garden with over 250 species of plants has also come up in Kerala Raj Bhavan compound.
It is encouraging to see that many students are attending the Swachchta Program here today. The future of our nation and our environment is with the youth of today. If they volunteer to spread the message of cleanliness, we can expect the full success of Swachch Bharat. Already, India has achieved 74% sanitation coverage after this programme was launched. I am happy that Kerala, with the help of Suchitwa Mission and other agencies has achieved 100% sanitation coverage. I hope Swachch Bharat would become a great success with our youth deciding to make Swachchta activities part of their daily life.
Coming back to members of the Association, I know that most of you have spent the best years of life guarding our borders, looking after our security against heavy odds and manning many establishments of strategic significance. In today's programme, I see your collective urge to keep on serving society through useful work.
I would also suggest that the association should engage more actively in ensuring that the service of ex-service officers is utilized properly by the civil society. Since they form a vibrant pool of trained and disciplined manpower, we need more initiatives to use their service for at least short terms. Besides, the officers and other categories of ex-service personnel also need to be constantly made aware of the changing rules and procedure regarding the availing of benefits due to them. The Armed Forces Tribunal's functioning and processes are among those matters which ought to be clarified to ex-service personnel. I hope the Association would take steps in that direction, too.
I congratulate the Association and the participants, especially the students for their keen interest in Swachch Bharat activities. I also congratulate the students who gave the designs for the Waste Management System. Your work is a battle for cleanliness and once we win the battle, we would get a cleaner, healthier and stronger Kerala. That will be our contribution to a cleaner, stronger and healthier India and a more beautiful world.
Together, let us make the world greener, cleaner and healthier. I wish you all the best.
Ellavarkkum Ente Aashamsakal
Nanni
Jai Hind
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