Award academic credits to students participating in Swachh Abhiyan: UGC

New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked all universities and colleges to consider offering academic credits to students for participating in the government's much touted Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

The commission in its meeting earlier this month had approved providing of two credits like any other 'Elective' under Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) to students in higher educational institutions undertaking 15 days (100 hours) summer internships under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan activities. "In this summer internship, it is expected that students will not only participate in overall cleanliness in villages or slums but would also help in setting up systems for sustaining cleanliness and sanitation efforts under the campaign .

“These efforts are expected to provide a great learning experience in Indian context to students across the country and would help in improving overall quality of education," a UGC communication to varsities read.

The commission has asked varsities and their affiliated colleges to consider implementation of this elective course from the forthcoming summer session and give wide publicity so that vast majority of students opt for this elective course. "It is informed that UGC guidelines for Swachh Bharat - Swastha Bharat Scheme have enabling provisions for universities and colleges to collaborate and to come out with ways to make the Mission possible," the UGC letter read.