Silvester D' Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (EP)

Kundapur, Jul 22: Abhishek Kumar Sharma (28), a youth from Fatehgarh, Uttar Pradesh, inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Swachch Bharat' mission, is on a country-wide bicycle tour in order to promote the concept of Clean India.

Abhishek who holds MSc, MPhil and PGCWM degrees in environmental science hails from an well-to-do family. He is enthusiastic about nature and environment.

He began his bicycle tour from hometown Fatehgarh on November 10, 2014 and he has already pedalled through 14 states, 203 districts and 16,000 villages. He reached Karnataka after going to Uttarakhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Goa and other places. He has already used two bicycles, one each in Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. He is peddling his third bicycle in Karnataka.

Abhishek has drawn the attention of people everywhere he has gone, explaining to them the necessity of protecting the environment and staying healthy. He has already given information on Swachch Bharat to 2,475 teachers and lecturers and more than 11 lac students. He recently reached Karnataka and now in Kundapur, he held discussions with school children and explained the concept of Clean India.

Appreciation by PM Modi: Prime Minister Modi who liked Abhishek's initiative to go on a bicycle tour to create awareness on Swachch Bharat mission invited him to his office in March this year and commended him. The Prime Minister also presented him a new bicycle. Abhishek is using this bicycle for his tour in Karnataka.

Abhishek has been going from place to place at his own cost. He has accepted help from people at some places.