On the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, children with ‘special needs’ from the Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan (MBCN) initiated a ‘Swachh Noida’ Campaign, organized by The Ponty Chadha Foundation. The chief guest at the occasion, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of Culture and Tourism and MP Noida, cheered the students and started the cleanliness drive.



With an aim to spread the message of “If we can, why not you?” children with ‘special needs’ from of MBCN along with the students of the Genesis Global School stepped out on the roads to sweep the areas in Noida. Over 100 students took part in the cleanliness drive in three sectors of Noida Sec 18 (in front of the Gurudwara), Sec 18 (Main Market) & Sec 15 with the RWA on December 3^rd, 8 a.m. onwards.



Applauding the efforts by children, the chief guest at the event, Mr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State of Culture & Tourism (Independent Charge) & Civil Aviation said, “On the occasion of World Disabled Day, I extend my best wishes to the Ponty Chadha Foundation and Genesis Global School for the initiative. I also congratulate you for taking forward Mahatma Gandhi’s and our Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a clean country. I really appreciate the enthusiasm that these children have shown towards the cleanliness drive. We should move forward with the oath to keep our surrounding clean and the whole world should see that India is a clean country.”



Talking about the initiative, Mr. Manpreet Singh Chadha, Vice-Chairman of Wave Group said, “This cleanliness drive is our humble initiative towards contributing to the ‘Swachh Bharat’ mission and it is our endeavor to make Noida a clean city. It is a requisite to a clean and healthy environment and well-being of society. This drive is an indication that these children with special needs are equally concerned about the city.”



 He further added, “It was the vision of my father to empower the children with ‘special needs’ and make them independent and this is why MBCN was established. We are simply taking his dreams forward.”



“Through this campaign, an effort has been made to inculcate the sense of keeping the surrounding clean and creating awareness about the importance of a clean environment. The students, even children with special needs, would learn to make their school campuses, residential areas, cities and finally the country clean,” said Ms. Vandana Sharma, Principal Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan.



Mr. Mahesh Sharma, Hon’ble Minister of State of Culture & Tourism (Independent Charge) & Civil Aviation, Mr. Manpreet Singh Chadha (Vice Chairman, Wave Group & Trustee of The Ponty Chadha Foundation), Mr. R.K. Panpalia (MD, Wave Group), Mr. Pramod Sharma (Principal, Genesis Global School) and Ms. Vandana Sharma (Principal, Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan) along with the children with ‘special needs’ took the pledge of keeping Noida clean. This pledge wall is kept in Wave Mall as a momentum of the occasion. In the other two locations children took the pledge card to the public and made them sign the same and keep the promise of keeping Noida clean.



The students of MBCN and Genesis Global School joined hands to clean plastic waste and garbage strewn on the pavements and streets. After collecting the garbage from the streets, the waste was disposed in the public bins.



The initiative was aimed at creating awareness among students about the importance of maintaining cleanliness in the surroundings. There was a lot of enthusiasm amongst the students regarding the drive.