KU law graduate a ‘swachhata’ champion

Vishal Joshi

Sushil Kumar, a law graduate from Kurukshetra University (KU), has received a national award for doing an outstanding work under the Swachh Bharat Summer Internship programme. The Central Government has acknowledged his initiative to sensitise people about hygiene through community participation. On October 2, Union Minister for Drinking water and Sanitation Uma Bharti awarded him the 3rd national prize for his outstanding work under the Swachh Bharat Summer Internship programme in New Delhi.

Sushil, 25, is keen to join the judicial services and work for environment conservation. He is a resident of Bhor Saidan village near Kurukshetra city. He had adopted Kheri Markanda village located on the periphery of Kururkshetra city. He had enrolled for the Swachh Bharat Summer Internship programme in May this year. “I followed the format of the Union Government and worked for 250 hours in about a month. During this period, I roped in teachers and students of Government Middle School at Kheri Markanda village in organising ‘Nukkad nataks’. The local panchayat also extended full cooperation to him in his initiative,” he says.

Sushil hails from a family of a marginal farmer. He admits that it is a challenging task for the community to give up old habits to ensure hygiene and environment protection. “I am associated with a not-for-profit organisation Green Earth for the last almost 10 years. The NGO inculcated in me the passion to work at the grass-roots level. Besides working for hygiene in villages, I was also exposed to legal battles to protect green belts in various areas. I actively associated with Green Earth in filing petitions in the National Green Tribunal to save green lungs of Kurukshetra and its adjoining areas,” he says. 

He adds that the real challenge was the implementation of orders of the NGT and other agencies. “I am studying hard to crack the judicial service exams. While working at the village level, I understand the challenges common people face and a more proactive role of the judiciary may bring relief to villagers,” he says.