Over 500 students of Sharada Vidyanikethan Public School, Talapady, near Mangaluru, on Friday took the Integrity Pledge on the occasion of Vigilance Awareness Week.
The Hindu, in association with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL), organised the programme to create awareness among students about corruption-free India.
Inaugurating the programme, Opposition Chief Whip in the Legislative Council Ganesh Karnik said that vigilance is “introspection of oneself”. He asked students to introspect on three basic aspects — “Am I good to myself”, “Am I good to my parents” and “Am I am good to the class”.
At the same time, Mr. Karnik said that parents and teachers play a vital role in creating awareness among children about the ill-effects of corruption. Any misuse of power becomes corruption, he said and urged students to be cautious about all kinds of corruption. When students develop ethics and moral values, corruption can be fought successfully, he added.
IOCL’s Chief Divisional Manager (Retail Sales) Naveen Kumar said that lesser the corruption, more the development of a nation. People in developed countries are aware of the menace of corruption and hence, are able to curb it to the extent possible. If the younger generation becomes aware about the ill effects of corruption, they could build a corruption-free India, he said.
Besides Sharada Vidyanikethan, IOCL is associated with The Hindu in creating awareness among 10,000 more students around Mangaluru.
School principal Sushma Dinkar and IOCL’s Senior Manager Anoop Kushwa and others were present.