Govt announces ‘Swachhta Saarthi Fellowship 2022’

The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the central government under its “Waste to Wealth” Mission on Friday announced the “Swachhta Saarthi Fellowship 2022” to empower young innovators.

The fellowship is given to young innovators engaged in community work of waste management, waste awareness campaigns, waste surveys etc. as Swachhta Saarthis and implement actions to reduce waste for a greener planet, according to a government note here.

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The Waste to Wealth Mission is one of the nine national missions of the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC)

The fellowship was launched in 2021 to recognize students, community workers, self-help groups, and municipal, sanitary workers who are engaged in tackling the enormous challenge of waste management, scientifically and sustainably.

The fellowship is aimed at amplifying the role of young students from schools and colleges, and citizens working in the community through Self Help Groups (SHGs), or in independent capacity in sensitizing the society towards waste management and offer innovative solutions for conversion of waste to value.

The 2021 cohort had 344 Swachhta Saarthis consisting of high school students, college students, and community workers from across 27 States and 6 UTs that are currently making an impact through their efforts in waste management towards building a sustainable future.

The applications for 2022 cohort are now open for submission. Up to 500 fellows will be recognised under the fellowship. The aim through 2022 cohort is to further empower and recognize the efforts of more young innovators engaged in community work of waste management and form a wide network of waste warriors on ground as Swachhta Saarthis. This fellowship will empower interested students and citizens to continuously engage in their attempts to reduce waste in cities and rural areas.

Announcing the fellowships, Prof K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the governmsaid,“Many people ask what the point is of having 100, 200, and 300 people working on the ground level but it is important because of three reasons. Firstly, your enthusiasm can affect your neighbourhood. Second, earlier times, elders used to teach the young generation about waste management but now it’s the responsibility of the young generation to teach the elders.”

“Lastly, you all go to institutions all over the country, each one of you can influence 3 other people and that will enormously scale up awareness on waste management. This is something that is now in your hands to create an impact. We have to do things to better our future, we should live responsibly and sustainably now so the future generations can grow sustainably as well,” he said.

The last date for applying to the fellowship is April 4th, 2022. Details and application link is available at: https://www.wastetowealth.gov.in/fellowship-home

For any further information on the fellowships one can, contact malyaj.varmani@investindia.org.in and malvika.jain@investindia.org.in