New Delhi: State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has won the Swachhta Pakhwada award, while Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has won the Swacchata hi Sewa award at an award distribution ceremony organised by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) on Monday. Apart from the first prize, two more prizes were given away by the government in the two categories. In the Swachhta Pakhwada category, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) won the second prize, followed by Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and HPCL, who won the third prize and a special award, respectively.
In the Swacchata hi Sewa category, BPCL won the second prize, while IOC won the third prize.
Speaking at the award distribution ceremony, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made Swachhta (cleanliness) a jan andolan (people's movement) which is drawing wide participation from society, urban and rural areas alike. He also said that the petroleum industry has been contributing to this jan andolan, while giving a boost to its momentum and appealed to the industry to intensify this further.
"As India completes 75 years of its independence in 2022, we must realise the dream of a Swachchh Bharat," he said. He also called for greater involvement of private sector oil and gas companies in Swacch Bharat Abhiyan and asked PSUs to build state-of-art toilet facilities at all pilgrim centres and major tourist attractions in the country. He handed over the awards to oil and gas PSUs for Swacchta Pakhwada and Swacchta hi Sewa campaigns.
Pradhan complimented the winners of Swachhata Hi Seva 2019 and Swachhta Pakhwada for their efforts in raising awareness on various aspects of cleanliness, including waste management and eliminating single-use plastics.
The criteria for the selection of winners were — creation of awareness about Swachhata Abhiyan through webinars, video conferences, disseminating of information through website, social media, restriction on usage of single-use plastic, holding online competitions, distribution of masks, sanitizers, soap etc. Documents and photos pertaining to these activities were collected by the ministry and an index was prepared. In the year 2020, 2,29,000 Swachhta kits were distributed by oil PSUs, 487 webinars, 2,092 video conference meetings with field locations, 955 competitions were organised, and 645 events were held for creating awareness about health practices pertaining to Covid-19.
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