Indian school boy inspires IIT Varanasi paper bag campaign

Abu Dhabi, Nov 12: Inspired by an anti-plastic bag campaign run by a 13-year-old Abu Dhabi-based Indian boy, 10,000 students in Banaras will make 500,000 paper bags to reduce pollution caused by the plastic bags in the holy city.

The Paper Bag Campaign at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Varanasi was launched last month, after a group of students came to know about the campaign run by Abdul Muqeet, eighth grade student who has won several awards, including the Abu Dhabi Award in 2011.

"A group of students of our institute's Green Club happened to see a video of a boy who put in tremendous efforts making paper bags all by himself. This was how we came to know about Abdul Muqeet and his campaign," Prateek Hundekar, a Ceramic engineering student, was quoted as saying by the Gulf News.

The paper bag campaign is run as part of Technex, one of the oldest festivals among IITs in India, which will be held early next year in its 76th year; he said.

"We are proud to say that Abdul Muqeet is the Brand Ambassador of this campaign. We chose him because if a boy so young could make such a huge impact on the society in environmental conservation, I'm sure nobody would ever be able to find an excuse to be ignorant and not contribute towards the welfare of our environment," Hundekar said.

"I feel extremely happy and proud because I heard that to reach IIT, one has to be very intelligent. I am delighted that somehow I am associated with such a prestigious institution and it will spread the message and awareness to masses against plastic bags," Muqeet said.

Muqeet will be flying to Banaras on Thursday evening to attend an event as part of the campaign. He has made more than 7,000 paper bags since he launched his campaign in 2010. He has conducted more than 150 workshops in schools, colleges and several institutions, and attended international conferences.

PTI