Collector begins ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ campaign

Ongole: Prakasam district collector A Thameem Ansariya called for environmental cleanliness to become integral to people’s lifestyles as she launched the ‘Swachhata hi Seva’ (cleanliness is service) awareness campaign in Ongole on Tuesday.

The campaign kicked off with an awareness rally from Prakasam Bhavan, the Collectorate, to the Mini Stadium, covering a distance of about 1.8 kilometre. The collector flagged off the rally and led it from the front, accompanied by approximately 1,500 participants including the MEPMA staff, panchayat raj department employees, Ongole municipal corporation staff, and students. At the Mini Stadium, the collector organised a human chain and administered a pledge to the participants, committing them to take personal responsibility for individual and environmental cleanliness.

Collector Ansariya announced that special awareness programmes would be conducted until October 1 under the slogan ‘Swabhav Swachhata - Sanskar Swachhata’ (Cleanliness in Nature - Cleanliness in Culture), featuring rallies and cultural events on various aspects of cleanliness. She emphasized that although the awareness programmes would last only 15 days, environmental cleanliness should become an inseparable part of people’s daily lives. She urged all citizens to participate in these programmes and announced that health check-ups would be conducted for sanitation workers and their family members.

STEP CEO Lokeshwara Rao, MEPMA PD Ravi Kumar, District Social Welfare Officer Lakshmanaik, DPO Usha Rani, Deputy DEO Sama Subba Rao, Ongole municipal commissioner Venkateswara Rao, other municipal officials, and sanitation workers participated in the programme.