Meet Harjinder, man on mission to make Hoshiarpur litter-free

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, January 3

Harjinder Singh Hargharia (49), a social worker from Hoshiarpur, on Tuesday completed 1,437 days of his mission of making his town litter-free. In all these years, not a single day has passed when he hasn’t stepped out of his house to clean the garbage lying unattended on roads, parks and public places.

He says the mission that he started alone had turned into a movement now and this year on Republic Day, he will make at least 1,000 people, including youngsters and students, take pledge of keeping their neighbourhood clean and green. “It took me four years to bring this change and now I can proudly say that I have set an example. The efforts I have put in to change the face of my city have started bearing fruit. I can see the results as well as the impact on others,” Hargharia added.

Citing examples of the changes he brought in the town, he shared that at Ghanta Ghar, Food Street near District Court and on the road adjoining the main gate of Government College, Hoshiarpur, one would often see piles of garbage scattered here and there, but now it has turned into a green cover and people often plant saplings there. He added that so far he had cleaned over 400 spots in Hoshiarpur, including chowks, streets, markets etc.

He said his journey from an unknown face in Hoshiarpur to a popular man hasn’t been easy at all. “Holding a small flex in my hands, which reads ‘Let’s make Hoshiarpur the most beautiful place’ I roam around all the streets and roads here. Sometimes, people do make fun of me saying all this won’t help and things will not change. But what I believe is that one of us has to take the responsibility and show the way,” he said.

On being asked what inspired him to start this mission, Harjinder said he would often hear from his friends living abroad that one of the most attractive things on foreign land was cleanliness. “That was the time when I decided to do something for my district and started this mission,” he added.

He said for this social cause, he had received many honours from local NGOs and social organisations. Besides, his efforts were also appreciated by the district administration and he even received an honour from the state government on the Independence Day celebrations last year.

Harjinder said apart from this mission, he is also organising blood donation camps on a regular basis. Besides, he himself had donated blood over 30 times in the past few years. “Moreover, I have also helped over 70 needy families in marrying off their daughters,” he said, adding that his mission to make his district clean would continue until he achieve the results he is aiming for.