Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The University Grant Commission (UGC) has asked universities and colleges in the country to reduce the use of plastics, especially single use plastic, on their campuses.
“All the Universities and affiliated colleges/institutes are requested to make the awareness programme impactfully in order to avoid use of single use plastics have maximum visibility as part of 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' and share action taken report with UGC,” a letter issued by UGC secretary Rajnish Jain says.
This missive has come in continuation to a notice issued in September 2019 along with guidelines to avoid the use of single-use plastics in higher education institutions (HEIs).
The UGC said that the centre has launched a 75 weeklong campaign 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' to celebrate the achievements of the country and its people. This campaign not only commemorates the achievements but also motivates and encourages citizens to take positive steps for the growth of the country.
“Awareness programmes to avoid the use of single use plastics have been identified as one of themes for the campaign with a view to gather momentum, scale visibility and outreach,” the UGC said attaching with the letter a suggested list of such single use plastic items.
The UGC stated that awareness generation may also be brought out on the recently notified Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, wherein, identified single use plastic item, which have low utility and high littering potential, will be phased out by 2022.
