Global Handwashing Day is marked on October 15, to increase awareness and understanding the importance of maintaining hygiene. With the support of UNICEF, India is celebrating the Global Handwashing Day for the first time this year.
The Department of Drinking Water supply and Department of School Education and Literacy have planned some creative events in various states of India. About 100 million children in a hundred thousand school and 250 thousand Gram Panchayats came up and took part in the celebration.
In Chhattisgarh, about 2000 school children washed their hands after a special meal of puri and kheer. Also, the children of Dornapal relief camp performed a skit ‘Water and Soap’ to spread awareness on hygiene. The education department in Nandurbar, Maharastra organised a training workshop for teachers, to further carry a hand washing drill for eight days. In Madhya Pradesh, about 2,700 students from seven schools washed their hands with soap to promote awareness on the lack of sanitation and poor hygiene practices in the locality.
In West Bengal, about 2,000 national cadet corps youth from five colleges and 14 schools conducted rallies and demonstrations to show five steps for handwashing in Raghunathpur, Jhalda and Balarampur blocks of Purulia district.