MANIPUR UNIVERSITY, 27 March, 2025: The College Development Council, Manipur University and Department Of Municipal Administration, Housing & Urban Development (MAHUD), Government of Manipur jointly organized a one-day media sensitization workshop on My Waste, My Responsibility on 27th March 2025 at Committee Room, Manipur University, with an objective to sensitize media in spreading awareness on sanitation, cleanliness and impact of climate change.
The media sensitization workshop was attended by Manipur University Vice-Chancellor Prof. N. Lokendra Singh as chief guest, Director, Directorate of Environment and Climate Change, Government of Manipur Dr. T. Brajakumar Singh as guest of honour, and Director, MAHUD Department & Directorate of Information & Public Relations (DIPR), Government of Manipur Shri. Ngangom Uttam Singh as president.
Speaking at the event, Prof. Lokendra Singh stated the successful implementation of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Campaign in India is a remarkable initiative of the Prime Minister, making India’s commitment towards access to clean sanitation within a short period of time. He added that the university is committed towards implementation of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in the campus through its NSS cell. Sharing his observation from a historian point of view, he emphasised on Manipur as a clean state in the region during 1970s, projected through its people’s hygiene and habits, highlighting changes in socio-political transformation leading to urbanisation and modernisation. He stated that cleanliness and waste management can be achieved through education system, asserting the need for inclusion of Value-Added Courses at school level.
Meanwhile, Director, Directorate of Environment and Climate Change, Government of Manipur Dr. T. Brajakumar Singh highlighted the initiatives taken by the department in mitigating climate change issues, highlighting door-to-door collection system-collection, transport and management, and ensuring Imphal to become a bin-less city. He stressed that people and the community need to take responsibility in making the city clean. Highlighting the role of the media in spreading awareness on environmental issues and waste management, he urged the local media to write and publish information and messages of climate change in clear and simple language, covering positive human interest stories, creating awareness among the masses, and ensuring community members to take onus of maintaining their locality clean. He encouraged the public to ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ in mitigating problems of waste management.
Director, MAHUD Department & DIPR, Government of Manipur Shri Ngangom Uttam Singh stressed in length the role MAHUD department played in cleanliness and sanitation across the state of Manipur. Highlighting the challenges to address issues on waste management, he provided viable measures including proper segregation of waste at individual level, ensuring proper collection and payment of monthly collection fees, change in lifestyle and adopting measures to generate waste to wealth.
Prof. Sukhdev Hanjabam, Director, CDC, Manipur University felicitated the dignitaries. Dr. Sakila Nongmeikapam, Public Relations Officer, Manipur University delivered a welcome address, highlighting the importance of media sensitization on environmental issues and cleanliness, creating public awareness and spreading its messages to larger audiences. Dr. Pebam Nganthoiba Mangang, Social Development Specialist, MAHUD Department, Government of Manipur proposed a vote of thanks.
An interactive and engaging session between the experts and media persons was the highlight of the discussion, sensitizing media persons about waste management, presenting them problems and measures of waste management in the city, and ensuring media to provide space for impactful stories on waste management and climate change.
