Tibetans mark Gandhi Jayanti with mass cleanliness drive
DHARAMSALA, Oct 2: Tibetans in Dharamsala today took part in a mass cleanliness drive organized by the Central Tibetan Administration to mark the 149th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
In commemoration of the 149th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and in observance of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, an initiative of the Indian Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India, on 2 October, the CTA today organised a mass cleanliness drive in the Dharamsala jurisdiction.
CTA’s Health Kalon Choekyong Wangchuk flagged off the mass cleanliness drive titled ‘Towards a Clean India’ at an event held at the main square of the Mcleod Ganj here in Dharamsala. The event was also attended by the Honourable Additional Commissioner of Municipal Corporation, Prabha Chaudhary, President of Indo-Tibet Friendship Association, Ajay Singh, Tibetan Settlement officer Dawa Rinchen and local Pradhans.
CTA has declared the year 2018 as the ‘Thank You Year’ and had planned a series of events across India to express our deepest and heartfelt gratitude to the Government and People of India for generously hosting us for the last six decades.
“We are today joining the nationwide clean India movement—the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan as a mark of our utmost gratitude to India,” the Health Kalon said in his address.
Kalon Choekyong Wangchuk further said that a one-day cleanliness program will not make Dharamsala clean and appealed to the general masses take care of their surroundings every day and all the time to keep Dharamsala clean.
The tricoloured Indian national flag was also raised at a brief ceremony held at the Kashag Secretariat here in Dharamsala by the CTA President Dr Lobsang Sangay celebrated the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. The ceremony was attended by Members of Kashag (Tibetan Cabinet), Secretaries and senior officials of the CTA.
Today marks the fourth anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan launched by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2 in 2014 from Rajghat with an objective to make the country open defecation free when the nation celebrates the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary earlier today at the Raj Ghat in the Indian capital and later attended several programmes related to sanitation and renewable energy.
