Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Nirmal Singh today paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversaries. On this occasion, Deputy CM along with Member of Parliament Jugal Kishore Sharma, Minister of State for Information, Education and Culture Priya Sethi, Commissioner Jammu Municipal Corporation Mandeep Kaur and IGP Jammu Danesh Rana flagged off ‘Clean Jammu, Green Jammu Marathon’ being organized by Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) to mark the completion one year of ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’.Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy CM appealed the people to cooperate with JMC in keeping the city clean, green and free from pollution. The week-long awareness campaign on ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’, started on September 26, 2015, concluded on Gandhi Jyanti. We should take a pledge to keep our mind, soul and society free from impure elements and lead a happy life, he added.
The Jammu Marathon started from Satwari Chowk and culminated at Floriculture park near Rotary Club, Gandhi Nagar. The students of various educational institutions including Govt. Polytechnic College, Jammu, Delhi Public School, Jammu, Govt. College for Women, Parade, Alexander Memorial High School, Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School, Canal Road, Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School, Rehari, Boys Model Middle School Satwari, Primary School Nai Basti, Govt. Higher Secondary School, Sarwal, Govt. Higher Secondary School, Paloura, Raina Higher Secondary School, Paloura, Govt. Higher Secondary School, Bakshi Nagar, Govt. (Girls) Higher Secondary School, Canal Road, Dreamland Public School, Govt. (Boys) Higher Secondary School, Gandhi Nagar, Ranbir Higher Secondary School, Govt. (Girls) Higher Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, Govt. Higher Secondary School, Channi Himmat, Govt. Higher Secondary School, Sunjwan, Govt. Higher Secondary School, Satwari, Govt. Higher Secondary School, Jammu Cantt, Shiksha Niketan, Jeevan Nagar and Navyug High School, Paloura, besides citizens of Jammu participated in the marathon with courage and enthusiasm.
The Deputy CM appreciated the efforts of JMC for organizing the week-long awareness campaign and cleanliness drive in which the corporation took an initiative to clean 10 wards each day. This campaign should not become a symbolic campaign for one week only but we should follow the path shown to us by our visionary leaders including Gandhi ji, Dr. Lal Bahadur Shastri, Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make this nation a powerhouse.The state government is determined to make the campaign of ‘Clean Jammu, Green Jammu’, a success and efforts are being made by JMC in this regard.Later, Speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly Kavinder Gupta distributed prizes among the winners of marathon.In Boys category, Kewal Kishore secured the first spot followed by Manish Sharma and Amit Sharma on the second and third positions respectively. Besides, Mandeep Kaur was the winner of the marathon in Girls category while as in Skating category, Anshika and Nivriti secured first and second spot respectively.While addressing the gathering, Gupta said that participation of citizens is imperative for keeping the city clean. He termed ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’ as first step towards ensuring a healthy and prosperous life to people of the country. He lauded the efforts of JMC for taking the campaign to every household of Jammu.Vote of thanks was presented by Assistant Commissioner (Revenue) Subah Mehta.