Acting on ‘need of hour’, UGC calls for ban of single-use plastic in universities
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New Delhi, Sept. 3: The ‘Climate Change’ is here and plastic is one of the biggest reasons behind the escalated changes. Now, taking a step towards this regards, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued guidelines to higher education institutions across the country to impose a ban on single-use plastic.
The move comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a mass revolution against single-use plastic from October 2, which will mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The UGC Guidelines stated the institutions should systematically ban the use of plastic on their campuses and replace it with “environment-friendly substitutes.” It also mandates that every higher education institution in the country should ban single-use plastics in canteens, hostels and shopping complexes in the institution’s premises.
It also added, Carry out awareness drives and sensitization workshops on the harmful impacts of single-use plastics, mandate all students to avoid bringing non-bio-degradable plastic items to the institution, install necessary alternative facilities like water units to avoid the use of plastic.
The UGC guidelines also asks, the institutions to encourage the students to sensitize their respective households about the harmful effects of plastics and make their households ‘plastic-free’. The guidelines are an effort to encourage universities and colleges to adopt policies and practices towards a cleaner and plastic-free campuses.
The guidelines also ask the higher education institutions, which have adopted villages under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, to undertake a campaign in their adopted villages till they are converted into ‘plastic-free villages’ through promoting awareness and encouraging the shift to alternative products.
The higher education regulator, while issuing the guidelines, said that plastic waste has emerged as one of the biggest environmental concerns adversely impacting the soil, water, health and well-being of citizens at large and that time has come for a systematic campaign to reduce the usage of plastics.
It added that the educational institutions have the unique spread and influence to educate the students and households on the need to avoid the usage of plastics.