A statue of Mahatma Gandhi (File Photo | PTI)
KOCHI: Gandhi Smrithi, a three-day event commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, organised by the NSS in which 800 volunteers from 16 universities in Kerala took part, concluded on Tuesday at SH College Thevara.
The programme featuring a state-level NSS camp and NSS inter-collegiate competitions, based on the life and times of Mahatma Gandhi.
An exhibition, showcasing the rarest and largest collection of Gandhi memorabilia - including soil from the spot he was assassinated - was the highlight of the event. Under the ‘Save the Weavers’ programme, products from flood-affected Chendamangalam was put up for sale by NSS volunteers.
Richard Hay MP inaugurated the Swachhta Hi Seva programmes and flagged off a cycle rally at 7 am on Tuesday. In his keynote address, ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’, he recalled his days at Thalasserry Brennen College as an NSS programme officer and how he realised the beauty of social service through his experience. Hay asked students to inculcate the philosophy of cleanliness and service as a life philosophy. Principal Fr Prasanth Palakkappilly and Remya Ramachandran, NSS programme officer, SH College, spoke.
Swachhta Hi Seva was also conducted in association with the Southern Railways, Thiruvananthapuram Division.
Dr Remya Ramachandran, NSS programme officer, led a team of volunteers in planting flowering plants along the railway track from Ernakulam Junction to Town, cleaning Ernakulam Junction Railway Station and launching organic farming on the Ernakulam Junction premises.
