PUNE: Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar today announced ‘Clean Campus, Green Campus, Smart Campus’, a competition for colleges and universities on the occasion of Environment Day.
“In this competition, educational institutes will keep their campuses clean, plant trees, conserve water and energy, besides implementing sustainable waste management projects,” he said here.
The minister was in the city to launch the Smart Campus Cloud Network project of MIT-WPU in association with TERRE Policy Centre at Dr Vishwanath Karad MIT World Peace University Campus.
The participant institutes will be evaluated in January and winners will be announced in February, Javadekar said.
“UGC and AICTE are formulating guidelines for the competition,” he said.
The objective is to make the campuses across the country green and sustainable, he added.
“We think that students should learn all these things through field experience and practical work…All these things (water conservation, etc.) should become a part of our lifestyle,” Javadekar said.
The competition will also be held for schools across the country later, he said.
Speaking to reporters later, Javadekar said India is firm on its commitment to the Paris climate agreement.
“The Prime Minister has stated that protection of environment is an article of faith for us,” he said.
“We feel those who have gone astray on this issue will come back on the right track…We will continue to walk down on the path which is right,” he said. (AGENCIES)