Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s Phase 2 of Green-Me Campaign Targets 30 Schools in Ramanagara

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) in association with the Education Department, Ramanagara (Karnataka), successfully rolled out the 2^nd phase of “Green – me” project yesterday in the presence of T S Jaishankar, Deputy Managing Director, Raju B. Ketkale, Senior Vice President and Naveen Soni, Vice President, Toyota Kirloskar Motor amidst other TKM Officials. The event was presided by M G Kumaraswamy, Block Education Officer, Karnataka Education Department – Ramanagara and Siddaramaiah, Environment Officer - KSPCB (Karnataka State Pollution Control Board) Ramanagara.

The event also witnessed the presence of 30 Government School Headmasters and School Development Management Committee Heads. The main objective of this project is to inculcate a positive attitude amongst the existing and the next generation through a specially designed curriculum plugged in training module for the school teachers aiming to achieve environmental sustenance. Introduced in November last year, the Green- Me campaign received an overwhelming response from schools and encouragement from the Education Department. This year, TKM will cover 30 more schools under the Green-Me campaign consisting of Higher Primary Schools (more by 10 schools compared to last year’s coverage of 20 schools), of 5^th – 8^th grades, located in Ramanagara district.

Toyota’s commitment towards shared environmental responsibility has led to the initiation of this project which is built to target the community as a whole, to create eco conscious minds (as a holistic approach) through schools.

This project aims to introduce “Green-Me – Facilitators” (1 facilitator for 6 schools). These facilitators are teachers who travel to engage and support in implementing Green-Me project through action learning methodology in schools. The facilitator’s key role is to actively involve school children, SDMC’s (School Development Management Committee) and general public to meet the desired objectives. Under this project, a Central Coordinator is nominated to track the progress of the project & also facilitate to link TKM with the Green-me Clubs. TKM is associated with NGO SNEHA (Support for Network and Extension Help Agency) in implantation of this year’s Green Me project. The projects focuses on environment conservation aspects designed through varied activities such as conducting exclusive environment related rallies and campaigns, celebration of Environment Day, Street Plays and environment based movie screening, etc.

Sharing his views, T S Jaishankar, Deputy Managing Director – Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said “We have been witnessing remarkable economic growth in India. As a responsible citizen, we should not forget our duty towards conserving environment. Government has rolled out many schemes, initiatives towards community development. The success of such initiatives wholly depends on the public participation to make India a better place and an environment friendly nation for our future generation. We cannot keep looking at government for everything, we all have responsibility of this society & we must also act for betterment of society. ”

Speaking on the occasion, Raju B Ketkale, Senior Vice President – Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said “We, at TKM, strongly believe that the teachers working at the grassroots level holds the most responsible position in the society. They are instrumental in spotting & nurturing tomorrow’s eco-citizens of the nation. And this should start in the school classrooms expanding eventually to foster change in the community at large.” The first phase of implementation in the year 2015 - saw a team of experts from the CEE (Center for Environment Education) engaged by TKM, working together with the schools to ensure effective project implementation. TKM volunteers have been instrumental in meeting the desired results with the support of teachers and students and thus achieve the drawn objectives under this campaign.”

Commenting on the occasion, M G Kumaraswamy, Block Education Officer – Karnataka Education Department, said “In phase 1 of Green Me Project, over 1000 children were involved and we could see a visible positive change in the minds of the school children on environment. By introducing facilitators, NGO and lead coordinator the campaign has been further strengthened, thereby reducing any gaps in successful implementation of the project.

Under phase I of Green Me projects, key activities such as essay writing and drawing competitions were conducted in 20 schools, over 36 environmental conservation action plans were devised, 15 campaign and street plays on topics like water conservation, waste management and biodiversity were organized in villages. This was very well received by the schools & community at large.

Toyota has always been and will remain committed to environmental responsibility. Beyond pushing the bounds of product innovation, one of Toyota’s goals is also to support social initiatives, contributing to a cleaner environment.