Chacha Chaudhary is now mascot of Namami Gange programme

Speaking to The Indian Express, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, NMCG, said, “Today Executive Committee of NMCG has decided upon engagement with Chacha Chaudhary character for sensitising children and youth for rejuvenation of Ganga and other rivers."

THE CENTRE will use Chacha Chaudhary, the popular comic book character, for sensitising children and youths about the cleaning of Ganga and other rivers, a top official of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) said on Friday.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, NMCG, said, “Today Executive Committee of NMCG has decided upon engagement with Chacha Chaudhary character for sensitising children and youth for rejuvenation of Ganga and other rivers. Let’s say ‘Ganga ki Baat, Chacha Choudhary Ke Sath’ is a public engagement activity under overall public outreach activities of Namami Gange mission.”

Mishra said that the NMCG has undertaken various public outreach programmes like Ganga Quest and a television series– Rag Rag Mein Ganga, and the ‘Ganga ki Baat, Chacha Choudhary Ke Sath’ will be one such activity. Under this series, different comic stories will be created in which Chacha Chaudhary will talk about keeping rivers clean, he said.

He said that 5-6 months ago, Diamond Toons, the publisher of the Chacha Chaudhary series, had submitted a proposal to work with the NMCG to spread awareness about the Namami Gange programme. The NMCG has also discussed the proposal with the World Bank, which is supporting the Namami Gange programme.

Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Ministry of Jal Shakti said the Executive Committee of the NMCG has decided to declare Chacha Chaudhary as the mascot of the Namami Gange Programme.

“At the 37th Executive Committee meeting of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), chaired by Shri Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, NMCG, Chacha Chaudhary was declared as the mascot of the Namami Gange Programme and some major projects in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were discussed and evaluated,” the statement said.

“The NMCG has been focusing on youth as part of its outreach and public communications efforts as they are the impellers of change. As a step towards this NMCG has tied-up with Diamond Toons to develop and distribute comics, e-comics and animated videos,” it said.

“The content will be designed with the objective of bringing about behavioral change amongst children towards Ganga and other rivers. The total estimated budget for the project is Rs 2.26 crore. Shri Ashok Kumar Singh, Executive Director (ED), Projects, presented the project details and shared that Chacha Chaudhary can be useful in ground-level activation for Ganga rejuvenation,” the statement said, adding that initially, the comics will be launched in Hindi, English and Bengali.

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