Introduction
SRMIST apart from being a centre of excellence for over 54 different fields of study has always done its part for the community. One of the major milestones in this direction was the Swachh Bharat Summer Internship (SBSI) 018. Swachh Bharat is a national sanitation coverage and from May-July 2018 SRMIST did its part of educating, and inculcating the rules and steps to be followed for proper health and hygiene.
About the Campaign
This summer internship by SRMIST was one of the biggest Swachh Bharat cleanliness initiatives in the city. Over 11 panchayats were selected around Kattankulathur and Kancheepuram areas, under SBSI Nodal Officer Dr. V. Thirumurugan seven departments comprising of a total of 402 interns selected a total of 228 panchayats in and around Kanchipuram and spread the message of cleanliness and effective methods for a pollution-free India. The duration of the internship was of 100 hours and all the interns who had attended the internship were awarded certificates for the same.
Activities
SRMIST had an assortment of activities and remedial measures planned to clean up the surroundings. Measures such as door to door survey across Mariamman Koil street regarding sanitation and hygiene, a waste collection drive that involved segregation and proper separation of organic, inorganic and glass waste, a street cleaning drive including educating the public about proper hand wash techniques, a sapling plantation of Neem and Pongamia plants, an informative rally around old Anjur village, Field visit, drawing, poetry writing and slogan writing competitions in government higher secondary school, door to door rally stressing the importance of cleanliness and many other important activities
A few other activities worthy of notice include whitewashing the Anjur Government higher secondary school walls, grafting a school wall painting, digging and creating compost pits, School waste collection drive, Personal hygiene awareness campaign, movie screening, cultural fest, restoring a library, organizing community welfare programs, menstrual hygiene awareness rally, public wall paintings, medical camps and an Anganwadi visit in Kumizhi
Valedictory functions and felicitations
The wind-up valedictory function was held on 11th of July which was presided by Chief guest Mr. M.S.M Vallavan – DSP Vandalur Prizes were distributed to winners of all the competitions. Speeches were given by Prof. K. S. Lakshmi, Dean, SRM College of Pharmacy, Prof. V. Chitra, Vice Principal, SRM College of Pharmacy, Mr. V. Thirumurugan, Nodal Officer, SBSI-SRM IST, Associate Director (CL) and Prof. N. Damodharan Co-ordinator SBSI, SRM College of Pharmacy.
SRMIST organized a function honouring the best interns of SBSI 2018 at the T. P. Ganesan auditorium in its Kattankulathur campus in the presence of all interns. This concluded the 100-hour Swachh Bharat campaign Department Heads, Members from SRM-SBSI Nodal Office, dignitaries from SRM-IST and
Kancheepuram District Collectorate.
The function was presided by Thiru. A. Ponniah IAS, district collector, Kancheepuram who emphasized the objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission. He addressed the gathering with a praiseworthy note about SRM-IST’s involvement in this national initiative. He presented the statistics of overall participation of Universities and Colleges across Kancheepuram and praised SRM-IST for being the institution with the highest number of participation. He also congratulated all interns for their extraordinary work.
The Registrar of SRMIST, Dr. N. Sethuraman highlighted the hard work, commitment, and determination exhibited by the interns during their times of tireless service. He also took the time to thank the efforts pitched in by the faculty and commended the laudable initiatives taken by SRMIST towards ensuring a cleaner India. With the top 3 interns being honoured, all the other interns received their certificates. With this event, the SBSI felicitations came to a close.