UP Basic Education Department celebrates Swachhata Pakhwada on the instructions of CM Yogi

Lucknow : The Yogi government has kicked off a 15-day ‘Swachhta Pakhwada’ campaign, running from 1st to 15th September, to promote cleanliness and hygiene across Uttar Pradesh.

The campaign began on 1st September with the ‘Swachhta Shapath’ (Cleanliness Oath), where 1.40 crore children from approximately 1.32 lakh council schools took the pledge and learned the importance of handwashing.

As part of this statewide initiative, the second and third days were dedicated to ‘Swachhta Awareness Day,’ during which students, teachers, and community members actively participated in various activities. On Monday, the ‘Swachhta Shapath’ was administered to students, teachers, and staff in council schools. The following day, Tuesday, marked the celebration of ‘Swachhta Awareness Day,’ where a range of programs and activities focused on cleanliness were launched in schools.

As part of the ongoing ‘Swachhta Pakhwada’ campaign, SMC/SMDC/PTA meetings were held on Tuesday across all council schools in Uttar Pradesh. These meetings focused on educating students about the importance and benefits of cleanliness and handwashing.

During the parent-teacher meetings (PTM), parents were introduced to water conservation techniques, including rainwater harvesting, with an emphasis on promoting and adopting these practices. Children were also encouraged to maintain cleanliness and hygiene both at school and at home.

Key activities undertaken:

• Teachers were provided with guidelines to inspect hygiene facilities in every corner of the school or institution.
• Toilets, MDM kitchens, classrooms, fans, doors, windows, bushes in the premises were cleaned. Efforts were made to make the premises germ-free using disinfection.
• Waste materials, such as broken furniture, unusable equipment, useless vehicles etc. were completely removed from the school premises.

Planning in place:

• Plans were made for the quick evaluation and maintenance of facilities, with discussions planned on a day-to-day basis with local representatives. These discussions will focus on adapting handwashing facilities, daily cleaning and disinfection routines, proper toilet use, water facility management, ventilation, and waste management.
• Inspections were carried out on piped water supply connections in schools, and considerations were given to implementing water harvesting systems as part of the ‘Catch the Rain-2024’ campaign.