SPEECH OF HON’BLE GOVERNOR PUNJAB AND ADMINISTRATOR, UT CHANDIGARH, SHRI BANWARILAL PUROHIT ON THE OCCASION OF STATE LEVEL PAINTING COMPETITION AT ENERGY CONSERVATION AND PRIZE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION AT SECTOR 5 PANCHKULA ON NOVEMBER 14, 2022 AT 12.00 Nn
- PRB
- 2022-11-14 18:05
I am delighted to witness the colourful and inspirational paintings drawn by the children in the painting competition organised as the part of National Energy Conservation initiative.
I warmly compliment all the children for showing the spirit to participate in this competition. Theirparents & guardians deserve profuse appreciation for encouraging their wards to come forward to give free play to their skills & imagination.
At the same time, I congratulate BBMB for its painstaking efforts to enthuse school children of Punjab & Haryana and UT, Chandigarh to participate in this competition in increasing numbers and for meticulously organizing this function.
My dear children,
By taking part in this painting carnival, you have not onlydisplayed your skills on the canvas but you havealso become the torch bearer of the message of energy conservation.
I had the opportunity to see your colourful creations. Your paintings are so vibrant, so lively, so self-speaking yet subtle thatI marvel at your skills and your grasp of the need to conserve energy. I was really impressed by some of the paintings.
I am sure that my young friends have tried very hard to educate themselves on various aspects of energy conservation. This process of discovering must have left an indelible impression on the young minds about the need & significance of energy conservation.
In your endeavour to explore the concept, you must have involved your friends, siblings & parents. How wonderfully this must have enlarged the base of the practitioners of energy conversation.
Before COVID, in the year 2019 when this competition was last held, more than 84 lacs young students across the country participated in the event; it is thrilling to imagine a mass movement at the grass root level, passionately engaged in the endeavour called energy conservation.
Environmental concerns today occupy the centre stage of global discourse. Yet, our journey towards pursuing a truly sustainable path towards development has just begun . Energy consumption in India is expected to double over the next two decades, in line with the growth requirements of the economy.
But the country is not endowed with abundant energy resources required for sustaining such levels of consumption.
The compulsions of achieving a high growth rate exist, but greater reliance on imports would have implications on the fiscal balance of our economy.
Sustainable development mandates the use of available natural resources in a more efficient way. We have to, accordingly, promote universal access to energy, while, at the same time, promoting energy efficiency.
The demand side management measures have a key role in eliminating power shortages and bridging the gap between demand and supply to a considerable extent.
So, Conservation of energy is as important as in creasing the generation or availability of energy.
There must be increased understanding of the fact that the path to a more sustainable future will require our society to make a better balance between its energy consumption vis- a-vis cost and availability .
It has become a cliché to say thatEnergy Saved is Energy Produced, but it remains as true as ever. For effective energy conservation, adopting star rated appliances or installing LEDs in place of incandescent & fluorescent lights is not sufficient. The real need is to develop a mind set which tries to look out for every opportunity to conserve energy. It may be by switching off unnecessary lights, by using solar heater, by setting air conditioner temperature at 24°C instead of 16°C, car pooling or by walking down small distances.
Through this painting competition, Ministry of Power, Government of India through Bureau of Energy Efficiency and other PSUs and organizations under its ambit have unleashed an army of nimble footed soldiers to combat energy extravagance and to consciously and unconsciously spread the gospel of energy conservation.
This movement started with a trickle i.e. about 3.4 lac students appeared in 1st paining competition held in 2005. But now, it has turned into a swollen tide with more than 84 lac appearing last time in the year 2019. Very humbly, I bow to this subtle under current of the spirit of energy conservation seeping through the Nation, through this painting competition.
Children,
You all know that the Nation is celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, 75 years of India’s Independence. But, 25 years from now in the Amrit Kaal when we will be celebrating the 100 years of our Independence, the role of all of you will be very important. You will be the leaders, the doctors, the engineers, the entrepreneurs, the scientists who will be running the state-of-affairs. As they say, “ Today’s children are the citizens and nation-builders of tomorrow”.
It is indeed a good to involve school children in promoting the cause of energy conservation. Mahatma Gandhi had once observed and I quote: “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed” (unquote). The spirit of conservation has to be instilled from a young age. Children have to be actively engaged in promoting conservation of resources to ensure a better tomorrow .
I once again congratulate all the award winning and participating children and their parents and guardians and wish them success in all their endeavours.
Thank you,
Jai Hind.