MANGALDAI, Sept 22 - In response to an appeal from their Swedish counterpart, the students of Bhakatpara ME School in the remote corner of Darrang and Udalguri border areas came out of their classes on Friday as a part of the global environmental campaign � school climate strike movement under the name �Fridays For Future� started by teenage Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg one year back.
Nearly 200 students took out an awareness procession throughout the streets near their alma mater under the aegis of two non-government organisations named �tere desh homes� and �SATRA�.
The schoolchildren displayed placards with various slogans on nature preservation, including �Climate now home, work later�, �I am dying, act now,� �Our future in our hands,� �Parameters of education can be achieved only in healthy environment,� among others.
Later, Bhrigu Chauhan , a Class-IX standard student of the school lamented before this Correspondent: �What is the value of education if our Earth does not survive?�
Similarly, Tanaya Deka, an eighth standard student said, �Destruction of nature and ruthless killing of wild animals is going on everywhere. Our leaders should think about the crisis facing our future.�
Weigh-in scales distributed: In the meantime, with a view to support the nutrition component in ICDS, the MAMTA-Health Institute for Mother and Child, an NGO under project MANCH supported by ITC Mission Sunehra Kal recently distributed weigh-in scales among select anganwadi centres in Darrang district.
In this connection a distribution function was organised on Thursday at the Youth Club here where District Development Commissioner Sweety Gogoi Kalita in the presence of Punya Lahan, CDPO of Pub Mangaldai ICDS, Rickta Roy Kakati, CDPO of Pachim Mangaldai ICDS, project team and anganwadi workers distributed 67 hanging salter machines to the anganwadi centres covered under Chapai, Chamuapara, Dahi and Ramhari gaon panchayats.
In her address, Development Commissioner Kalita said that the anganwadi workers have great responsibilities towards taking care of children, especially the underweight ones. During the past several years, lack of weigh-in machine in many anganwadi centres created difficulties in proper measurement of weight of children and thus the exact number of underweight children could not be properly ascertained.
�But as MAMTA-HIMC has come forward to address this problem we are hopeful that together we can dream of a society full of healthy children,� she maintained.
In the function conducted by district coordinator of MAMTA-HIMC Kangkan Kumar Saikia, CDPOs Punya Lahan and Rickta Roy Kakaty appealed to the anganwadi workers to work sincerely and dedicatedly for the better future of the children.
Social Welfare Officer AMA Hussain, district Lead of Poshan Abhiyaan Bidyut Bikash Das, Parbish Mahedi, District Coordinator of Poshan Abhiyaan Mouchumi Kalita, District Community Mobiliser, NHM and Lachit Kumar Saikia, District Coordinator of Adolescent Empowerment Project, MAMTA-HIMC were also present on the occasion while Basanta Kumar Nath, Programme Associate of MAMTA-HIMC demonstrated the use of weigh-in machine with the help of anganwadi workers and project team.
The function subsequently ended after administering of community pledge on nutrition.
