UGC seeks report on Swachhta internship from TN universities

The Commission also urged the Vice-Chancellors to ensure active participation of the students in the programme, which seeks to enable the youth to contribute to the society.

Under the programme, students can select a village of their choice and work with the village community for building a lasting system to improve the sanitation and hygiene in rural areas.

It is expected that each student would devote at least 100 hours to programme and carry out specific measures to fulfil the objective. “Considering the importance of the initiative in the national interest, especially from the perspective of promoting Swachhta in the villages, support is requested in ensuring active participation of students of your university”, the UGC circular stated.

Accordingly, each institution is required to assign at least one nodal officer, who will guide students throughout the internship as per the guidelines. The UGC has developed a website for registration purpose as well as reporting throughout the internship period.

On completion of the internship, the best three interns or teams would be awarded at college level and their names would be forwarded for eligible awards at university level.

The internship programme includes organising awareness campaigns regarding the importance of better and safe sanitation practices like using a toilet and handwashing. The interns will also conduct door-to-door meetings to bring about a behavioural change with respect to sanitation.

The UGC also requested the universities to create awareness about the programme by posting about it on social media platforms like Twitter.