With sanitation sewa, lecturer does his bit

Mahesh Sharma

Mandi Ahmedgarh, December 14

Bhupinder Singh Uppal of Jhuner village is a lecturer in chemistry and had gone to Tikri border to extend support to farmers. He was so moved by the plight of the protesters, forced to camp unprotected under the open sky that he decided to perform sewa at a langar there and not return home till the laws are withdrawn.

The story did not end here as the nature of service he was performing changed abruptly after observing the need for improvement in the level of sanitation in the area surrounding Tikri border.

“Having realised that owners and organisers of a sports club at Naya Gaon were finding it difficult to maintain cleanliness due to the increase in the number of protesters camping there and using the facilities, I decided to call my friends and start sanitation sewa,” said Bhupinder Singh Uppal, maintaining that volunteers from Jhuner, Chuhanke and Ahmedgarh had come forward to take up the job.

Jasdeep Singh and Amrit Pal Singh said performing sanitation sewa was more satisfying for them than any other work. “Though we had been helping in preparation and service of langar earlier, we feel blessed to be chosen for maintaining cleanliness, which had remained ignored till now. Moreover, we want to leave an impression on the local people that Punjabis don’t wish to be a burden on others,” said Jasdeep Singh.

Balwant Singh, another enthusiast from Chuhanke, appreciated that the initiative taken by their team. “Though we did not want any publicity, some protesters prepared videos showing us cleaning latrines and urinals and uploaded those on social media. Their circulation worked wonders to motivate others to focus on cleanliness at places inhabited by them,” said Balwant Singh acknowledging that number of volunteers undertaking sanitation was increasing day by day.