Setting an example for making Hyderabad a plastic-free city and sending a strong message against use of plastic, municipal administration and information technology minister KT Rama Rao on Friday refused a bouquet wrapped in plastic when the staff of a star hotel presented it to him.
As soon as he got down from his car and entered the hotel where he addressed a press conference on the IT department’s annual report, the hotel employees warmly welcomed him and presented him a bouquet, but the minister politely refused. “The bouquet was wrapped in plastic, so I cannot accept it. I am just coming back from a programme where I had made a commitment to reduce the use of plastic,” he told the hotel staff, thereby sending out a clarion message.
Rama Rao’s act can be seen in the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to people to give a book instead of a bouquet as a greeting. “I request our people to give a book instead of a bouquet as a greeting. Such gesture will make a big difference,” the PM said last June at a meeting.
Soon after, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) had issued instructions to all states and Union Territories (UTs) with respect to gifts given to the PM during his tours within India wherein it said a flower, a khadi handkerchief or a book could be presented to welcome the dignitary instead of bouquet.
He also participated in a function at Bhayanagar Nandana Vanam (urban forest park) at Uppal. A campaign was taken up from the place to make forest reserves plastic-free. “In the next two years, 50 more parks will be developed in the city,” he said and explained the measures being taken up to safeguard lakes and water bodies.
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