Community members, volunteers and employees joined for ‘Swacchta Hi Seva’ Campaign in beneficiary schools across India

Rajasthan (Ajmer),: To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Coca-Cola India has joined ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’, an initiative of the Swachh Bharat Mission, which aims to generate greater public participation and reinforce the concept of “cleanliness as everyone’s business”.

Answering to the call-to-action of our Hon’ble Prime Minister, Coca-Cola India and its bottling partners, in partnership with The Akshaya Patra Foundationhave come together by initiating activities to promote ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’ in beneficiary Govt schools across India. This is also in line with the Company’s global vision of creating a World Without Waste.Wide varieties of activities are planned inGovt schools in the state of Rajasthan, Orissa, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. About 300 Government schools across the country will be participating in the activities which will be organized by Akshaya Patra in 11 locations and with the help of enthusiastic young volunteers from AIKYA - Akshaya Patra’s volunteering arm, who will help make each activity an interactive learning session for children & teachers. The main objective is to drive awareness on the importance of clean and hygienic surroundings, and promote effective waste management solutions.
As a part of the initiative, Coca-Cola India and Akshaya Patra have targetedto host a wide array of activities in about 30 schools in Ajmer, Rajasthanto sensitize children on the importance of cleanliness and waste management from 20th September till 2nd October, 2019.

Following is a list of the activities that are taking place:

• Pledge making drives: Every headmaster & student took a pledge to create awareness of cleanliness, ensure proper segregation of waste & conduct shramdaan to create a clean country

• Drawing competition: Students made drawings on topics such as - cleanliness is next to godliness & cleanliness is a civic duty; each school received a certification of participation from Akshaya Patra & Coca-Cola India

• Cleanliness drives: Volunteers from AIKYA visited schools to spread awareness about the importance of cleanliness

On the association, Sundeep Talwar, CMO, AkshayaPatrasaid, “In a country like India, with such a vast geography, the focus on cleanliness is of prime importance. We intend to create awareness amongst govt school children. Children are our future. It should not only be restricted to cities, but each and every Indian including those in the rural areas is responsible to keep their homes &surroundings clean. Citizens need to be mindful of the waste generated and its disposal, which will go a long way in maintaining their own overall health. Cleanliness is indeed everyone’s business. We are honoured to be partnering with Coca-Cola for this initiative.”
Commenting on the initiative, Mr. Ishteyaque Amjad, Vice President, Public Affairs, Communications& Sustainability at Coca Cola India & South West Asia said, “Cleanliness is a quintessential form of discipline that one should never fail to follow in life. Considering the waste scenario in India, it is more important than ever to encourage cleanliness and waste management as a part of a healthy lifestyle. In alignment with the same, the Coca-Cola Company has a larger goal of creating a ‘World Without Waste’. Our recent engagement towards launching Asia’s largest packaging waste management venture is in response to the growing concerns around waste disposal. We at Coca-Cola India feel privileged to help make ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’ a success and urge every person to play a significant role in creating a cleaner, greener and litter-free India.”

This initiative will not only catalyze a positive change at the grass-root level but will also help children become the ambassadors of inducing and developing a waste-free ecosystem.
About Akshaya Patra Foundation
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organization headquartered in Bengaluru, India. The organization strives to eliminate classroom hunger by implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in the government schools and government-aided schools. Alongside, Akshaya Patra also aims at countering malnutrition and supporting the right to education of socio-economically disadvantaged children. Since 2000, Akshaya Patra has been concerting all its efforts towards providing fresh and nutritious meals to children on every single school day. It is continuously leveraging technology to multiply its reach. Its partnership with the Government of India and various State Governments, along with the persistent support from corporates, individual donors, and well-wishers have helped it to grow from serving just 1,500 children in 5 schools in 2000 to serving 1.76 million children. Today, Akshaya Patra is the world’s largest (not-for-profit run) Mid-Day Meal Programme serving wholesome food every school day to over 1.76 million children from 16,785 schools across 12 states & 1 Union territory of India.

About Coca-Cola India & South West Asia
Coca-Cola in India and South West Asia is one of the region’s leading beverage companies. Headquartered in Gurgaon, the Business Unit manages the businesses in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan. It offers a range of healthy, safe, high quality, refreshing beverage options to consumers. Since its re-entry in 1993, the company has been refreshing consumers with its beverage products - Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Diet Coke, Thums Up, Thums Up Charged, Fanta, Fanta Green Mango, Limca, Sprite, Sprite Zero, Maaza, VIO flavoured milk ‘Almond Delight’ and ‘Kesar Delight’, Minute Maid range of juices, FUZE tea, Georgia and Georgia gold range of hot and cold tea and coffee options, Aquarius, Schweppes, SmartWater, Kinley and Bonaqua packaged drinking water and Kinley Club Soda. The Company along with its owned bottling operation and other bottling partners, through a strong network of over 2.6 million retail outlets, touches the lives of millions of consumers, at a rate of more than 500 servings per second. Its brands are some of the most preferred and most sold beverages in the country – Thums Up and Sprite – being the top two selling sparkling beverages.
The Coca-Cola India system provides direct employment to 25,000 people and indirect employment to more than 150,000 people. The Coca-Cola system in India is contributing in its own small way to building sustainable communities through community initiatives like Support My School, VEER, Parivartan and Unnati and by reducing its own environmental footprint. For further information on the company's India operations and its products, please visit: www.coca-colaindia.com and www.hindustancoca-cola.com.
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