New Delhi: On India’s 75th Independence Day, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA), a flagship program of Ministry of Education, Govt. of India, announced the results of a regional level poster and video competition organised for COVID-19 awareness.

Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi was Chief Guest on this occasion, who announced the results of the competition for Delhi & NCR region, which is coordinated by IIT Delhi as a Regional Coordinating Institution (RCI).

While addressing the participants virtually, he motivated them and appreciated the initiatives taken up by Unnat Bharat Abhiyan for connecting the Higher Education Institutions with rural areas.

Speaking on this occasion, Prof. V.K. Vijay, National Coordinator, UBA said that the objective of the competition at the regional as well as the national level was to create repository and awareness material in regional languages/ dialects for circulation among the village clusters for COVID-19 awareness.

He added, “Unnat Bharat Abhiyan emerged as a strong network of about 2800 Higher Education Institutions, actively working in 14000 villages in the country. The UBA has been active for the last 5 years to bring change in the education system in the country and for the inclusive development of rural India. Unlike the obvious assumption that pandemic will slow down the community engagement process, the UBA leapfrogged in these 1.5 years of pandemic. Needless to say, it was possible due to a very active and interactive network of 2800 Participating Institutes, 45 Regional Coordinating Institutes, 13 Subject Experts Groups covering all aspects of rural development.”

Prof. Vijay also updated about the उन्नत भारत ग्रामीण स्वास्थ्य श्रृंखला, a digital initiative to bring COVID-19 general awareness, protocols and vaccine awareness with focus on rural India. The initiative was launched on May 17, 2021.

The live talks brought in renowned doctors and community medicine experts to deliver talks and interact with participants in regional languages. To date, approx. 40 episodes have been aired in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Telugu, Tulu, Malayalam, Bengali, English, Punjabi, Odiya, Maithili, Urdu, Dogri, Kashmiri, Bhojpuri & sign language. About 30,000 people have viewed the series.

The posters/videos from various parts of the country were invited, and regional level result announcements were planned by the Regional Coordinating Institutions (RCIs) throughout the country. The top two winners will be considered for the next round of National Level awards.

He added that the awareness repository collected by the Regional Institutions shall be used for creating awareness among the rural/ urban population about Vaccination, Prevention and Protection.

Prof. Vivek Kumar, Co-coordinator, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan gave vote of thanks. He shared that the event’s aim was to celebrate the 75th Independence Day with all the stakeholders of the UBA along with results announcement. Around 2000 institutions and 300+ participants attended the event virtually.

For results : Click Here