The Government of India’s Special Campaign for Swachhata in Government offices started from the 2nd October 2022 and slated to end on 31stOctober 2022 with major focus on cleanliness drive. At the same time, the National Wildlife Week, an annual celebration, has also started on the 2nd of October, to be culminated on the 9th of October. In this backdrop, Delhi Customs Zone celebrated Swachh Bharat and Indian Wildlife Heritage, by organising a programme ‘ARANYA’ today, at New Customs House, New Delhi.
The programme showcased the rich biodiversity of India through a picture gallery of mammalian fauna and avifauna. Officers who had made significant contributions in prevention of illegal trade in wildlife were felicitated by the Chief Guest Vivek Johri, Special Secretary to Government of India & Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC).
The programme started with the inauguration of the Wildlife Gallery “ARANYA” on the 2nd Floor of the New Customs House in the presence of Vivek Johri, Chairman, CBIC; Smt. V. Rama Mathew, Member, CBIC and other senior dignitaries.
The Chief Commissioner of Delhi Customs Zone, . Surjit Bhujbal, IRS, welcomed the dignitaries and other guests and informed that the event “Aranya” was organised to show case India’s diversity in wildlife heritage. He further said that the purest and the cleanest form are those which are found in the various natural ecosystems across the globe and Indian Customs is committed to protect and conserve it. He concluded by extolling the perseverance shown by the eminent photographers while taking these photographs.
The Guest of Honour Smt. V. Rama Mathew, Member, CBIC delivered the key-note address and shared her past experience in respect of case related to illegal trade in wildlife and listed out the challenges faced by the law-enforcing agencies like Indian Customs in enforcing the prohibitions in wildlife trade. She also highlighted the fact that the experiences gained over the years have helped Customs Officers becoming more efficient in enforcing laws relating to wildlife crimes.
Chief Guest Vivek Johri, Chairman, CBIC congratulated the awardees and encouraged the officers to remain vigilant about such illegal trade practices. He emphasised how the wildlife in its purest form needs to be conserved. He further appreciated that the Photo Gallery dedicated by Delhi Customs for wildlife conservation in the New Customs House has in fact, become an example of an innovative way of observing Swachhta.
The officers felicitated were Deepankar Aron, Commissioner, Dehradun GST; Dr. Dinesh Kumar Bisen, Additional Commissioner, Bhopal GST; Sujit Kumar P. Sompur, Additional Commissioner, Nachin, Bengaluru; Merugu Suresh, Additional Commissioner, Mumbai Customs Zone II; Isaac Riman Kharkongor, Joint Commissioner, DGRI, Guwahati; Dhruva Mandalam Seshadri, Joint Commissioner, Pune Customs; Sreejith M, Deputy Commissioner, Thiruvananthapuram GST; Spencer Mervyn Mylliem, Deputy Commissioner, Shillong GST; Sree Hari Sankar P, Deputy Commissioner, Chennai Outer GST; Utkarsh Bir Bahadur Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Mumbai GST; Amit Kumar Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Mumbai Customs Zone II;; Abhay Yamdagni, Senior Intelligence Officer, DGRI, Delhi Zonal Unit; Shiladitya Maitra, Senior Intelligence Officer, DGRI, Kolkata Zonal Unit; A. Venkatesan, Intelligence Officer, DGRI, Cochin Zonal Unit; Ramekbal Roy, Intelligence Officer, DGRI Guwahati Zonal Unit; Shyam Kumar Singh, Intelligence Officer, DGRI, Aizawl Regional Unit; A. Vikram, Preventive Officer, Chennai Customs; Jai Bharat Reddy, Preventive Officer, Chennai Customs; S. Abdul Nasser, Superintendent, Chennai Customs and K.C. Ajaya Kumar, Skipper, Chennai Customs.