JAIPUR: As the first monsoon showers struck Jaipur on Friday evening, everyone ran for cover at the Gandhi Nagar Railway station. But, some youngsters remained busy, cleaning and beautifying the walls there.
The youngsters are part of a campaign called ‘Rang De Jaipur’, whose volunteers are teenagers, college and school students, professionals and local artists.
Inspired by the ‘Swachch Bharat’ mission, these volunteers for past eight months have cleaned and painted public spaces.
Rohit Agarwal, the founder of Contree Foundation, and his friends Anjali and Gaurav Anand are the brain behind the campaign. While Rohit is an engineering graduate with a Masters from TISS, Anjali did an environmental management course from IIFM, Bhopal and Gaurav is a product of IRMA, Anand.
North Western Railway DRM Saumya Mathur says cleanness at railway stations is a challenge. “They (Contree) have done good work. They proposed to paint the railway station with women-centric themes and we liked the idea as it matched with the theme of the station. I myself will participate in this initiative.”
To broaden the base of its campaign, the group is linking with NGOs who have extensive grass-root network. “NGOs help us to involve more and more citizens who are keen to contribute their bit for the Pink City,” Rohit says.
The group is using social media to reach out to the over 35 lakh urban population of Jaipur. Thanks to their efforts, the Central Bus Stand, the main railway station, the Bypaas, several pillars of Jaipur Metro stations and about 45 other public spaces look colourful and clean. In addition, the volunteers have also beautified two government schools.
“If we want to bring change, we can’t sit and just wait for the government to do everything. Instead, if we do something and show some results, people in the government will start following and helping us,” Contree co-founder Gaurav says.