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Waste can do wonders: Modi praises rural initiatives towards self-reliance
Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave examples of two rural initiatives to turn waste into energy on the 80th edition of Mann Ki Baat radio programme.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to the nation on the 80th edition of Mann Ki Baat, the monthly radio programme, on Sunday mentioned an initiative adopted by Dr. Rajendra Prasad Agricultural University in Bihar’s Madhubani.
He said the Centre for Advanced Studies on Climate Change of the university has launched an initiative called, Sukhet Model, which is not only helping the farmers but also keeping the nearby villages free of pollution.
Under this model, crop extracts, cow dung and kitchen waste materials are collected from the rural households in exchange for monetary allowances for the villagers to buy LPG cylinders for cooking purposes, while the university converts the organic waste into vermicompost for plants and crops.
“We can see four direct benefits of the Sukhet Model. It keeps the villages free of pollution, and also helps maintain cleanliness by ridding the households of the garbage while the villagers get monetary benefit to procure cooking gases and the farmers organic fertilisers for improved cultivation,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister highlighted that such simple innovations help fuel the growth of rural India and lead them towards the path of self-reliance.
“I urge the panchayats across the country to think on the Sukhet Model and implement them in their villages,” Modi said.
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The Prime Minister also gave the example of another initiative adopted by the Kanjirangal panchayat of Sivaganga district in Tamil Nadu.
The village panchayat there generates decentralised renewable electricity from the waste collected from households. Not only that but they also turn the residual waste into fertilisers and compost.
“The village generates clean energy from two tonnes of waste every day, and use the electricity to power streetlights and other amenities of the village,” Mod said.
He added that the money that the village saves in the process is used for developmental work.
The Prime Minister praised the panchayat of the southern state for its inspiration and urged the people to think out of the box.
