The Anti-Tobacco Club of Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram in association with The World Lung Foundation-South Asia organised an Anti-Tobacco Interschool Declamation and Painting competition on 18th November, 2014. The chief guest for the event was His Excellency Gustavo De Aristegui, the Ambassador of Spain. The guest of honour was Dr. Shyam Aggarwal, Chairman of the Oncology Department at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi. Also present was Padma Shri awardee Dr. G.R.Khatri, President of World Lung Foundation- South Asia which is crusading against Tobacco since 2005. The panel of judges included Prof. J.P.S Uberoi, Head of the Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics (retd); Mr. R.K. Goswami, a retired IAS officer from UT cadre; Mr. M.S. Rawat, educationist and retired Principal of Sarvodaya Vidyalaya; Prof (Dr) Charulata Singh, Director of Vivekananda School of Journalism and Mass Communication, GGSIP University and Mr. Amit Kapoor, Head, International Watercolour Society, India.The Vice Principal, Mrs.Shobha Mehta; Vice Principal of DPS Shiksha Kendra, Mrs Pushpa Agarwal; the Headmistresses, Ms.Vanita Sehgal and Mrs.Anita Singh were also present on the occasion.
The program commenced with the lighting of the lamp and felicitation of the guests followed by a cultural event, with a mellifluous orchestral and choir performance by the school’s music society. The Dance Society put up a mesmerizing dance, ‘Krishna Stuti’ followed by a lyrical jazz performance.
The Presidents of the Anti-Tobacco club made a presentation highlighting the adverse effects of smoking on the youth, and the measures needed to rectify it. The Principal, Dr. D.R. Saini welcomed the guests and shed light on the horrible consequences of the usage of tobacco.
The Chief Guest, His Excellency Gustavo De Aristegui addressed the students and stressed on the relevance of the anti tobacco campaign in today’s day and age and the need for students to speak out against the use of tobacco. The Guest of Honour, Dr. Shyam Aggarwal provided key statistics about the use of tobacco among India’s youth, and the massive financial and personal costs incurred by the victims. He along with all the others present, took a pledge to fight this menace. He urged students to play their part in spreading the message of ‘anti-tobacco’. The event comprised two competitions, a Declamation and a Painting Competition on ‘Tobacco Route: A Journey to Death’. Students from 29 schools participated in both events, where they spoke forcefully against tobacco usage and made exquisite paintings outlining the same.
Dr. Harit Chaturvedi, Senior Consultant at Max Cancer Centre, Max Hospital, Saket was the chief guest at the prize distribution. The painting competition was won by Ashutosh Kumar of DPS Meerut, who claimed an award of Rs 5100. The runners up were Megha Kalai of Ryan International School, Vasant Vihar and Srishti Gupta of Bal Bharti School, Rajinder Nagar. The declamation was won by Ridhima of Apeejay School, Pitampura. The second prize was a draw between Dhwani of DPS International and Harshita of DPS Bulandshahr . The third prize was also a draw between Malvika Dhawan of Springdales, Dhaula Kuan and Aditi Solanki of DPS Greater Noida.
The event was organized by the Head of the Biology Department, MrS.K.Arora; Ms Niva Chhonkar, Ms. Jyoti Sharma and the teachers of the Biology department.