This 47-yr-old is relentless in his efforts to make dist clean

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 8

Harjinder Hargharia, a man roaming around in Hoshiarpur district holding a flex, is almost a known face for a majority of the residents of the district now. A postgraduate in history, this 47-year-old has been on a mission to make the district clean for the last 653 days.

Not even a single day passes when he does not step out of his home to sensitise people to keep their surroundings clean. Hailing from Hargarh village in Hoshiarpur, Harjinder had started the mission on January 26 last year. Nearly two years have passed and Harjit has started witnessing the results of his efforts. But the journey has not been easy for him.

Harjinder still remembers his first day. “I made a flex which reads ‘Aao Hoshiarpur nu banaye duniya da sabto sohna sthan, jiste hove desh nu maan’ and started my journey towards cleanliness,” he shared. On the first day, he sat on the stairs of a sports stadium holding a flex above his head. “That day everyone stared at me in shock. They were looking at me in a strange manner, but nobody came to me and asked about my mission. They must have found me a little unusual, but now after two years, people come and meet me, tell me that I am doing a good job,” he says proudly.

I made a flex which reads Aao Hoshiarpur nu banaye duniya da sabto sohna sthan, jiste hove desh nu maan and started my journey towards cleanliness. On the first day, I sat on the stairs of a sports stadium holding a flex above my head. That day everyone stared at me in shock. They were looking at me in a strange manner, but nobody came and asked about my mission. They must have found me a little unusual, but now, after two years, people come and meet me, and tell me that I am doing a good job. —Harjinder Hargharia

He said he would often hear from his friends living abroad that one of the most important and attractive things on foreign land was cleanliness. “That was the time when it hit me that we must also do something for the district so that other people could give examples of Hoshiarpur too,” Harjinder stated.

While giving an example of the change he witnessed after he started the movement, he shared that Ghanta Ghar in Hoshiarpur was a place where one would often see piles of garbage, but now people have started planting saplings there. “It feels great to see a positive change like this,” he said.

Besides, Harjinder has also been donating blood for the last several years. He is also into writing and recently a collection of his poetry titled “Tere mithe bol” was released. His articles also appear in various vernacular dailies.

Apart from this, to encourage the youth towards sports and culture, he keeps on organising various tournaments. I have also helped more than 50 needy families in marrying off their daughters. And I would not stop this no matter what the social worker shared.