Japanese citizen Kane Suzuki flags off RKM’s 3rd Shramadan of Swacchata Abhiyan
Mangaluru: Ramakrishna Mission Swacchata Abhiyan’s 3rd Shramadan was carried out at Collector’s Gate, Balmatta on 23rd December. The Shramadan was flagged off at 7.30 am by Kane Suzuki, a Japanese citizen and Dr Shashikumar Shetty, NSS Coordinator, Nitte University. Mentor Captain Ganesh Karnik, Convener Swami Ekagamyanandaji, Himmat Singh, Subhadra Bhat, Masa Hiro and many other volunteers were present at the venue.
Shramadan was carried out from Collector’s Gate in all the four directions. While Smt. Rajeshwari Vijayaraj & members of Nivedita Balaga cleaned the road leading towards Jyothi Circle, Smt. Vasanthi Nayak & other members cleaned the area towards Bendorewell. Kiran Fernandes & other senior volunteers cleaned the Balmatta Road, road dividers & reflectors. Several other initiatives were also carried out listed below.
Loads of heaps of concrete road debris and building materials besides an old building near Collector’s Gate was ruining the beauty of the city for the past several years. This morning volunteers under the guidance of Ashok Subbaiah, Dilraj Alva and others cleared the heaps using JCB & tipper. The spot was cleaned of stones, mud & garbage. Huge blocks of concrete slabs were removed thus converting the unused spot into public use. Big boulders and stones strewn across the path leading towards D C Bungalow were removed and the path was cleaned. The road direction board there was also repainted.
The barricades at Balmatta Collectors Gate circle were not only old but also occupying much space. They were replaced with new barricades today. Sandip Kodikal, Yogish Kayarthadka, Mukhesh Alva & other volunteers were instrumental in this work. Awareness Message of cleanliness has also been written on these barricades which occupy very less space thus benefitting the passers-by & easy vehicular movement. About 6 barricades have been placed in 60 feet area.
Heaps of garbage that was an eyesore near Balmatta Road were thoroughly cleaned by Chethana Gadiyar, Punith Poojari & other volunteers. Several flowering plants in pots have been kept in the spot giving it a facelift. The same model of transforming black spots of garbage dump yards into small gardens and parks in several parts of the city was successful in the past. This has also prevented people from littering in the area.
Local MCC corporator Naveen D’Souza, Mohan Kottari, Rajagopal Shetty, Ramachandra Shetty, Kishor Kumar, Prof. Radhakrishna, Prakash S T and many others participated in the Shramadan.
The 10th Special Shramadan of Swacch Surathkal Abhiyan consistently being carried out for the past 10 weeks was held on 22nd December below Surathkal Overbridge. The area below the Flyover and the surrounding areas were cleaned. Garbage dumping spots were transformed into a small garden with pots of flowering plants. This was followed by a small stage programme. Swami Ekagamyanandaji of Ramakrishna Mission was the chief guest and he addressed the gathering. Sri J D Veerappa, President of Surathkal Nagarika Salaha Samithi, Sri Rajamohan Rao, coordinator, Sri Satish Sadananda, organiser, Sri Sacchidananda, Sri Bharath Shetty, Sri Krishnamurthy & several others were present. More than 70 office bearers of different groups & NGOs participated in this programme. MRPL is sponsoring these drives.
Swami Chidambarananda (Chief Convener)
Swami Ekagamyananda, convener
Ramakrishna Mission Swacchata Abhiyan
Contact – 9448353162
It’s nice to see the RK missionaries, led by a missionary Swami clad in his missionary robes, conducting, with missionary zeal, the weekly/ monthly/annual/phased swacchata abhiyan as part of civil society contribution to the Swacch Bharat Mission(which in its earlier avatar, pre-2014, was named “total sanitation campaign” and “nirmal bharat abhiyan”). As is quite apparent, the previous names were totally uncatchy, unmissionary and unmarketable names not drawing people from around the world, film stars, sports-stars, captains and missionary-stars to crowd into the photo-frame.
I particularly like the Warli art and other art works on the walls of the city as a result of the “Shram-dan” by the missionaries from the RK ashram or is it math(they sure are good at it).
I cringe to see the able- Japanese citizen Kane sweeping the dusty and dirty roads of Mangal-uru; he now has first-hand experience of what one feels when one jumps from the (Ja)pan into the fire(quite literally, considering that the streets of Japan are what “cleanliness” and “hygiene” define).
Not being “intelligent” I request some “smart” people to clear my doubts :
(1) Doesn’t Shram-dhan mean “voluntary contribution of labour for a public cause”? Doesn’t “dhan” mean to donate and not take from one hand and give back only a little using the other?
(2) If above is so , then why is MRPL-ONGC(a company owned by the people of India) paying RK Mission to conduct these heavily photo-op’d and publicised swacchata abhiyans. Under its CSR scheme, MRPL has paid RK Mission: Rs.10 lakh 40 thousand to build bath cum toilet blocks in FY 2013-14; Rs. 14 lakh “financial assistance” for Swacch Mangaluru Abhiyan in FY 2015-16; Rs. 20 lakh(with a commitment of upto 50 lakh) for the SB mission jamboree in FY 2016-17;
https://mrpl.co.in/sites/default/files/Primister%20Office%20%20CSR%20Activity_0.pdf
https://mrpl.co.in/sites/default/files/Swach%20Bharath%20Abhiyaan%20Activities%20of%20MRPL.pdf
Well for FY 18-19 we have no publicly available data. So MRPL has paid RK Mission Rs.44.4/- lacs between 2013-14 to 2017 years. (pls note that the RK missionaries are not the only beneficiaries of the MRPL CSR funds. Never mind that MRPL feels no CSR toward the people they have forcefully displaced from their homes and lands and have no “funds” to pay these people their rightful share).
(3) Was RK Mission conducting these heavily photo-op’d and publicised swacchata abhiyans prior to 2014? What caused the sudden love for the nation? The Nation wants to know!
(4) I cannot help wondering how after so many phased “swacchata abhiyans” the brooms – held by the posing missionary-stars, the captains, the “Japanese in Manga-luru” and the elected reps. in the photo-sessions – look brand-new? How do you do it? Is the weekly work(2 – 4 hrs) so hardly (un)rough that you need to buy new equipment every week? Or, are these props kept separate for use during the photo-ops only.
(5) Where is all the dirt and debris dumped after collection? Is it the NIMBY policy that is followed? Is the garbage segregated and disposed as per the waste disposal policy of the govt.? (RK Mission had conducted one such “abhiyan” in my Panchayat area and I heard that the collected garbage, after all the public “show” was over, was simply dumped from one conspicuous place to another “ out of sight is out of mind” place!)
(6) Isn’t whatever the RK Mission is doing, actually the job of the MCC? So why are all the Corporators, MLA’s, MP’s and MLC’s who pose for the photo-ops not actually doing their job! Why is the govt. not held accountable for the civic works?
(7) We are all charged a Swacch Bharat Cess by the govt. in our bills., where does all that money collected from 1.3 billion people go? (is it used to build statues and headquarters).
(8) My Panchayat does not even collect any garbage. I collect the plastics , pay for the transportation and hand it over to the Panchayat and they happily burn it alongwith the other waste in their backyard posing grave health risks to the neighbourhood and the person burning the plastics. Practically everyone else throws their waste(including plastics) into the nearest rain water drainage channel, where it collects until the monsoon season and the rains faithfully wash it into the sea. So much for Swacch Bharat and pollution control!
To wind up, MRPL should spend our public money wisely by donating, to the district administration , a large approved-for- the -purpose incinerator to burn the plastics with minimum air-pollution. All plastics should be collected from all over the district by each of the concerned authorities and sent to this centralised location.
The concerned civic authorities should get their act together and do their job for which they collect taxes from the citizen.
Public money should not be spent in promoting certain organisations, associations and religions who are bent on spoiling the govt.(for their own personal benefit) instead of holding the govt. accountable.
MRPL could have spent those 44.4 lacs better by giving “dhan” to the poor municipal sweepers and garbage collectors for the education and betterment of their children and in providing these workers personal protection clothing and gear to safeguard their health while working rather than pouring it down the drain in making some rich people and some rich organisations richer!