In his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi commended the work of volunteers of Youth for Parivarthan, a Bengaluru-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), for fixing garbage black spots and beautifying the streets of the city in the past eight years. The volunteers have also beautified parks and government-run schools in the city.
“In Bengaluru, there is a team Youth for Parivarthan. For the last eight years, they have been working for the cleanliness of the city and other welfare initiatives. Their motto is clear: stop complaining and start acting. This team has beautified over 370 spots across the city. They have involved hundreds of volunteers in their campaign on Sundays. After clearing garbage, the volunteers beautify the area by painting on walls that include sketches of popular personalities and write their inspirational quotes,” said Mr. Modi in his speech.
Appreciation by the Prime Minister has elated the volunteers. “I have no words to explain how I feel after the Prime Minister recognised our work and spoke about it. His words have inspired all of our volunteers. Our responsibility has increased further to take up more such initiatives in the coming days,” said Amith Amarnath, founder of Youth for Parivarthan.
He said the NGO has four core teams, each having 30 to 40 members. They plan their drives on social media. At present, more than 500 are actively involved in their beautification works. The NGO tied up with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for clearing the garbage at black spots in the city. According to Mr. Amarnath, over 390 spots have been cleaned and beautified in the city so far. “We started with beautifying a spot at Banashankari in June 2014. Last Sunday, we beautified a government school at Herohalli. Our initiatives had begun a few months before the Central government announced the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan,” he added.
