With a view to utilise the services of cadets in creating awareness against single use plastic, the Punjab Pollution Control Board on Friday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Cadet Corps (NCC).
Environment Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, NCC Additional Directorate (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh) Major General Rajiv Chhibber, and Punjab Pollution Control Board Member Secretary Krunesh Garg signed the MoU at the NCC headquarters in Sector 31, Chandigarh.
Around one lakh NCC cadets will participate in the initiative, which is part of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's campaign against single use plastic launched statewide on August 5, the environment minister said. The department will also launch awareness programmes at several places in districts, sub-division towns and villages to shun plastic bags and adopt alternates, he added .
Assistance from government officers and employees, and officials and cadets of various NCC units will also be sought to make the state free of single use plastic and plastic carry bags.
The focus is to make Punjab the healthiest state with a clean and pollution-free environment, the minister said.
Major General Chhibber expressed hope that the MoU would go a long way in ensuring a clean and green Punjab.