CLEAN-India (Community Led Environment Action Network) Programme is in its third year of implementation. It is time to take stock of the progress made and implement mid-course corrections where needed. Development Alternatives and its partners have gained valuable experience on the burning issues of urban environment and how to manage them. This year the stress is on action component where outputs will be measured against commitments through verifiable indicators. During the last 2 ½ years, the CLEAN Team has gone through hands-on learning and sharing from its partners. Change in attitude toward environment, living in harmony with nature, avoiding waste and instead, its utilisation, reducing consumption, preventing pollution, etc, are aspects which face resistance and take time for change in mind-set. The programme has faced many barriers but with fortitude and a positive attitude, these are being overcome. Our initiative along with others for making the subject of environment science in schools compulsory has borne fruit. As a matter of fact the government has taken a step in the right direction by insisting on practical training and outdoor activities as part of the Environment Science curriculum.

Besides carrying out three re-orientation workshops at Jhansi, Bangalore and Nagpur, the programme has expanded to cover two more cities – Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. From these workshops it is quite evident that children, the future citizens, are keen and enthusiastic and are ready to accept responsibility as engines of change. The programme also had its spin-offs with a number of projects fructifying, like UNICEF aided projects of de-fluoridation and WaterAid project for water quality monitoring in M.P. More of these action-oriented projects are in the pipeline.

On 05 February 2005, 8th Annual CLEAN-India Meet was organised at New Delhi. Dr. Alexander Spachis, Minister Counsellor of the European Delegation was the Chief Guest. He visited the stalls at the exhibition which had been put up by children from both outstation and Delhi schools. In his keynote address he commended the children for their positive attitude towards the environment.

CLEAN-India Programme has attracted the attention of the government and outside agencies. Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India has tasked Development Alternatives to digitise the country’s Environment Atlas. Information from the data gathered by the programme will be incorporated in this exercise. Government of NCT of Delhi has appreciated the setting up of mini waste paper recycling units in selected schools and the state government has expressed its desire to set up one unit in Delhi Secretariat. Being a modular programme, UNEP and Department of Science and Technology are keen to set-up model solid waste management systems in towns and cities. Realising the importance of water monitoring, purification, conservation and harvesting, efforts are on to provide service packages for clients.

CLEAN-India Team was actively involved in evaluation of National Green Corps Eco-clubs. Development Alternatives was selected to evaluate the functioning of 64 school eco-clubs in Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh. This has further enlarged its visibility in the arena of environment mitigation both in the urban and rural sectors. From the learnings it will be able to provide valuable suggestions on improvement and making the programme more effective.