Farmers Movement Archive

Amritsar civic body selected for Star Leadership Award

Tribune News ServiceAmritsar, October 9The Earth Day Network, that has been organising the annual Earth Day celebrations across the globe since its inception in 1970, has selected Amritsar for the Star Leadership Award. The award has been given to 10 cities of India which have supported environment-friendly initiatives in their city. The nomination for Amritsar was proposed by the Dilbir Foundation, a non-profit organisation, for the support it received from the administration for its organic farmers market.Earth Day Network engages with over 70,000 partners across 190 countries to take the environmental movement forward. Regional Director Asia, Karuna A Singh, Earth Day Network, in a communication to the Mayor expressed, “In recognition of the efforts of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation’s environment-friendly initiatives, in particular for supporting markets where organic products are sold by farmers, Earth Day Network is pleased to confer upon the Amritsar Municipal Corporation, the Earth Day Network Star Municipal Leadership Award.”The concept of the Organic Farmers Markets was inaugurated in 2016 at Amritsar by the then Chief Secretary, Punjab, Karan Avtar Singh. Subsequently, it was extended to Ludhiana and Tricity in the following years. The programme was further broadened into a work from home set up at various places in India.Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu said the organic farmer’s market was like a pilot project that created awareness regarding natural farming and organic food among people. “The shift towards sustainability has been our goal as far as civic development is concerned. It’s a good initiative that is aimed at building a healthy community by sparing a thought for nature. We have been taking up zero waste initiatives such as creating awareness regarding garbage management. We have launched an initiative under which all the wards have been clubbed into sectors. We are visiting each sector and addressing the problems of the area and educating the residents about the zero waste techniques adopted for SLRM. The MC will provide the required help and support required for more such community based sustainable projects.”Gunbir Singh, President, Dilbir Foundation stated that he was delighted that the nomination made to the network has been accepted and Amritsar was recognised internationally for its exquisite action. Singh expressed his appreciation to Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu, Municipal Commissioner Komal Mittal and Dinesh Bassi, Chairman Amritsar Improvement Trust, as well as the State and Amritsar leadership for their support.

The Tribune

2020-10-10