As part of its ongoing ‘Hu alagchhu’ (I am different) campaign, the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban Gujarat has organised Street play, Bhavaiand puppet show performances across the Ahmedabad Zone. These have been organised in all Municipalities reaching lacs of citizens through schools, public spaces and community gatherings, to spread the message of cleanliness and shun use of single use plastic.
The idea behind the campaign is to engage people through theatre performances such as street play, puppet shows and Bhavai and convey the message of cleanliness. The central focus is to encourage segregation of wet and dry waste at the household level and to promote banning the use of single-use plastic.
Traditional folk storytelling, laced with humour and a strong character portrayal, artists have highlighted how one’s everyday life and habits leaves not just a carbon footprint but also a grave impact on the soil, water, air quality and overall human health. Through these street play and puppet show performances, citizens were encouraged to consume mindfully and adopt simpler practices such as cloth bags, home composting and participating in community cleanliness drives. The idea is to drive long-term behavioural change and a sense of shared responsibility for cleanliness among community members.
These performances have been further strengthened with modern day social media influencer marketing.
In line with the Gujarat government’s clarion call for banning single-use plastic under the ‘Nirmal Gujarat 2.0’ Mission, each of these performances was conducted in an eco-friendly way, with sets, props and arrangements designed to generate zero plastic waste.
This massive IEC campaign under the able guidance of Hon. MD, SMB(U), Gujarat Shri M Nagrajan (IAS) is about to get completed in this week.Each performance attracted audiences of 200–250 people. Citizens were also encouraged to submit their feedback through QR based google drive feedback form replacing paper-based feedback mechanism to save papers.
While the first phase has focused on street plays, Bhavai and puppet shows, more engaging performances are scheduled for upcoming phases, bringing Gujarat’s folk tradition into the fold to further convey the message more emphatically By taking awareness directly into neighbourhoods, schools and public squares, the ‘I am different’ campaign is designed to drive change on the ground with the theme: Cleanliness is not just a slogan but a community-driven movement.