A plethora of activities ranging from human art, painting, cleanliness drive, quiz competitions, digital activities, street plays and petition signatures were organised in Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi as part of a month-long public campaign to nudge people for an environmentally conscious lifestyle.
Jharkhand’s forest, environment and climate change department, Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) and NGO Centre for Environment and Energy Development (CEED) jointly launched the campaign, Mission LiFE, at a Ranchi school.
The campaign was organised as a run-up to the World Environment Day event on June 5, 2023. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) in October 2022 in Gujarat.
“The first day of the campaign showcased a captivating human art activity to depict the Mission LiFE logo created by the students of Jawahar Vidya Mandir, Shyamali,” said a CEED spokesperson.
A series of creative activities such as painting, display etc. were also conducted with the students.
Union environment, forest and climate change ministry envisaged giving a major thrust to Mission LiFE and organising a comprehensive campaign across the country in May and June ahead of World Environment Day.
“The key purpose of the campaign was to increase mass awareness by reaching out to one lakh people and foster a sense of responsibility towards the mission’s purpose, encourage citizens to actively participate and imbibe the values of the LiFE’s actions. We hosted painting competitions for higher class students, cleanliness drive in the nearby area of schools and colleges, quiz competitions, painting photo-opp with students, digital activity (selfie image with bottles avoiding plastic which was shared on social media with #saynotoplastic), street plays on general environmental awareness, petition signatures (near malls), tree plantation etc,” said a senior forest official.
Principal chief conservator of forest and head of forest force, Jharkhand, Sanjay Srivastava, said: “The Mission LiFE campaign intends to bring together collective and conscious efforts of people to adopt a sustainable and healthy lifestyle. There is a need for greater social responsibility on behalf of each person, so every small effort counts in inculcating positive behaviours and attitudes to become ‘Pro Planet People’.”
“As Mission LIFE intends to leverage climate-friendly social norms, beliefs and daily household practices, various public engagement and outreach activities are being organised to bring citizen support to enable them become change-makers for this cause. A series of creative activities has been regularly organised in various locations, schools, colleges, parks and public spaces in the state,” added Srivastava.
