ITANAGAR, 23 Sep: The state health agency under the Chief Minister Arogya Society conducted a state level essay writing competition for students of Class 9 to 10 on the topic ‘Your idea of Arogya Arunachal – Healthy Arunachal’ to generate awareness among schoolchildren about the Ayushman Bharat Pakhwada to commemorate the completion of four years of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) and one year of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
The contest was widely publicised through the print and electronic media. It received good response and participation was high, with more than 100 essay submissions from 10 different schools in seven districts.
A ‘three-level screening process’ was adopted to select the best essays, with the selection criteria based on understanding of the topic, insights into the subject, organisation of ideas, originality, and style of writing.
Anil Yadav (Class 12, GHSS Itanagar) stood first, followed by Paliza Techi (Class 9, St Alphonsa Public School, Naharlagun) who came second, and Lokam Yayu (Class 12, KV No 2, Itanagar), who stood third.
“The competition brought out engagement of school students and state implementing agencies of CMAAY and AB-PMJAY schemes, which, apart from creating awareness, also captured and stirred the aspirations and imagination of the young minds of an Arogya Arunachal – Healthy Arunachal,” according to a release.
“One message that was common in all the writings was that Arunachal is already gifted with natural environments for healthy living, and that improvement in education, awareness of personal hygiene, clean environment, and improvement in health facilities are some of the requisites for Arogya Arunachal.
“In many of the essays, students pointed out that health facilities in the state are devoid of clean toilets and suggested that cleanliness is the essence of healthy surroundings. A few cited the examples of the fight against the Covid pandemic and expressed hope of being able to fight any pandemic if everyone fought together, thus calling for stopping chewing of pan-ghutka and throwing of garbage in public places.
“Many identified substance abuse and rising cancer cases as issues of concern for the society,” the release added.
