Dr APJ Abdul Kalam has been chosen the “Bharat ka Paryavaran Ambassador” in a campaign conducted in 2 00,000 schools in India. This poll was part of the CO2 Pick Right- Kaun Banega Bharat Ka Paryavaran Ambassador Programme conducted by the Centre for Environment Education in partnership with ArcelorMittal, for the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. In this nation-wide campaign conducted over a period of 18 months, over 70,000 schools have sent in their votes. Children had voted for their teachers, environmentalists, and celebrities. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam emerged as the most popular choice of the children.
Dr. Kalam was felicitated by Shri Jairam Ramesh, Hon’ble Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Government of India at a function in the capital today. This is perhaps the first unique election ever conducted in India where children have been asked to choose an ambassador who would be a spokesperson on sustainable choices that we all need to make. It is also interesting to note how children voted for a leader after coming to a consensus on the choice at their schools.
The Pick Right campaign was originally conceptualized to be conducted in 100,000 schools which were already a part of the MoEF’s National Green Corps Programme. This was later extended to reach to 200,000 schools. This was possible with the partnership and support of ArcelorMittal which is supporting the CEE’s work in the area of climate change and sustainability issues for the next three years. “We are delighted to be part of an awareness campaign that will help prepare and build over 20 million future ‘green leaders’ in India. Environmental sustainability is a key value to ArcelorMittal. This unique project that connects our board room to classrooms all over India will strengthen our commitment to a better tomorrow” said, Mr.Vijay Bhatnagar, CEO India & China, ArcelorMittal.
Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Government of India remarked-“ My faith in the future generation is renewed today – they have made the right choice in choosing Dr Kalam as the Paryavaran Ambassador – a person who has been an inspiration to my generation and who inspires the future generation too. The other reason why Dr. Kalam is the fitting choice is that going forward science and technology will play a critical role in helping us maintain the ideal balance between economic development and ecological preservation – who better than Dr. Kalam to guide the youth who have the enthusiasm and exuberance to work for protection of the environment.”
Delighted to having been chosen as the Paryavarn Ambassador by the Children of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam said “over the last 8 years I have met over 5 million children and made them take a oath – today too I want the children present to take a oath to plant and nurture atleast 10 trees each.”
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam administered a 5 point oath the participating children and launched a global mission to plant 10 billion trees. Of this, 1 billion trees much be planted in India, then each of us can claim to have done our best for protecting the environment and bring about “good weather”.
Dr Kalam has always been a great believer of plating trees as they actively help counter the adverse affects of carbon emission – and shared that as a prize for successful launch of AGNI missile, he had asked for a 100,000 trees to be planted at Chandipur.
Dr, Kalam called for a youth movement to save the world and said that India should strive for energy independence by relying more on renewable energy like solar, wind and hydro and bio-fuels.
On the Occasion, Mr. Kartikey Sarabhai, Founder Director of CEE said “Today is only the beginning of the 3 year campaign – I hope that this movement, under the guidance of Dr. Kalam will create a unique Indian model for sustainable development with growth.”
The campaign was launched on World Environment Day (WED) last year by Hon’ble President of India, Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil. The campaign was conducted in 15 languages. It involved preparation of educational material to spread awareness about climate change, its causes and effects and individuals choosing the best options for sustainable development.
Over 200 meetings, training and workshops were held in various locations of the country. This involved one to one interaction and discussions with teachers, representatives of non governmental organizations associated with schools and children themselves followed by voting. CEE’s 7 regional cells and the UNDP- Global Environment Facility- Small grants programme network of over 100 NGOs made this large-scale implementation possible.
Source: Melcole / Solar India Online
