How an Assam BJP MLA is cleaning his constituency through a unique competition, 200,000 take part

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from the Khumtai constituency, Mrinal Saikia, has organized an inter-village competition in the Golaghat district with a motive to keep his constituency clean. 

The competition has been organized among all villages in his constituency-- Khumtai -- in the wake of the central Government's Swachh Bharat Mission.

Following the competition, more than two lakh people from the constituency have started scrubbing, sweeping, washing, and wiping the village roads since February 17 to win the top prize which is a 1 km concrete road.

Saikia decided to kickstart an inter-village and inter-tea garden competition for a clean Khumtai which is about 260 km east of Guwahati. These included keeping a clean home or public building façade and a neat backyard.

Talking exclusively to IndiaTodayNE, Mrinal Talukdar, a journalist from the state and also a jury member in the 'Cleanliness competition' said, "There are 148 villages and 24 tea estates in the Khumtai constituency. Mrinal Saikia planned the competition— possibly the first of its kind in India to include an entire constituency to encourage people to value cleanliness. He also encouraged the village people to make their village clean, habitable, plastic-free, and beautiful from the time limit of February 6 to March 6''.

"The external auditors or jury members will come and mark you. There were five jury groups of academicians, journalists, civil servants and environmentalists including Jadav Payeng and retired college professors narrowed down the list to a total of 121 villages and tea estates", Talukdar told this publication.

The prizes announced for the tea estate were development schemes worth Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh, and Rs 2 lakh.

According to the reports, the villages were assessed according to a number of criteria, including the cleanliness of the roadside, the way in which waste was managed, and the use of plastic.

''We also examined the restrooms, the backyards of homes, the Namghars (community prayer halls), markets, schools, and other public areas,'' he added.

All jury groups sent their evaluation findings to the MLA in sealed envelopes.

“Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will open these envelopes and announce the winners tentatively between March 10 and 15,” Talukdar concluded.