President of India Selects Logo Design of Robin Singh - a Student From Jammu and Kashmir as the Winner of the 'roshni' Logo Competition

President unveils new logo for Rashtrapati Bhavan's Green Initiative from among 3276 entries sent by school children across India

The President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil ushered in the next phase of Rashtrapati Bhavan's green sustainability initiative, Roshni Prachodaya Society ("Roshni") by joining with grassroots vision movement India @75 to unveil a new logo for the environmental initiative.

The winning logo was chosen by President Patil from 3,276 entries submitted by school children across India. After a deliberative jury process, the logo design of Robin Singh of Class 9 from Kendriya Vidyalaya Border Security Force (BSF) School at Bandipore in Jammu and Kashmir was announced as the winning entry. A special encouragement prize was also announced in which the design of Vibhu Prakash from Class 4 of Air Force School, Panchavati, Delhi Cantt. was selected. The announcements marked the culmination of an outreach programme facilitated by India@75, a grassroots initiative for realizing the dream of an inclusive, sustainable and developed India by 2022. The competition, which started in February 2012, reached out to 10,450 schools.

Robin Singh's logo shows a combination of a house and tree. Explaining his design, he said the hut signifies the use of eco friendly equipments in the house. The tree on the other hand signifies its role in the improvement of the environment and also the necessity to plant trees.

Judges felt the logo simplistically encapsulated the core eco-friendly messages of Roshni, and would help inspire other young people to engage with issues towards ensuring a green future for India.

Students crafted their logos uniquely and with a concept note, encapsulating their understanding of Roshni's core aims of environmental management, empowerment of local communities and the creation of eco-friendly sustainable urban habitats in India. It symbolized youth energy, a futuristic vision, and the way ahead in environment sustainability.

In addition to judging each logo carefully, the President shared some time with the 150 participating school children from Delhi, NCR present for the event, encouraging them to continue their quest to learn about the environment. She said, "I am deeply committed to the cause of a sustainable India. I am delighted to see the reaction the Roshni logo competition has generated; the energy and eagerness in response to this call for action has indeed been heartening. It is yet another step closer to sensitizing our youth to environmental issues. We need to ensure that our youth imbibe sustainability and inclusiveness as a part of their value system."

Rajan Navani, Chairman, India @75 National Committee, said, "We are overwhelmed to see the impact of our school outreach program with Roshni and the tremendous response it has generated. This partnership will go a long way in driving awareness around environmental sustainability issues at a grassroots level in India. Children are at the core of our future, and so it is important to engage them in a way that is creative and different - thereby inspiring them to become responsible citizens of tomorrow."

India @75 and Roshni Prachodaya Society entered into an MoU on September 8th, 2011. The Roshni logo competition was the first step under this MoU with the aim to universalize the concept of Roshni and India@75's common vision to sensitize students towards being aware of eco friendliness, sustainability, inclusion, environment, preservation and conservation.

The Roshni logo competition, run by India @75 between February 1st and April 15th, reached out to schools across the country with the objective to ignite the imagination of school children around environmental sustainability issues at an early age. India @75 reached out to 10,450 schools across 30 States and Union Territories and; approximately 10.45 million students were made aware of the project and over 31.44 million people were sensitized through the campaign. A total of 4081 registrations and 3276 final entries were received. These were on display in the President's Estate from May 28th to 30th for the selection of the winner, and will now be open for public viewing from May 31st to June 2nd. The various parameters of choosing the logo included uniqueness of logo; simplicity, measure of how much of it signifies the future of environment sustainability; level at which the youth can identify with it and help in promotion of eco society.

Participating school children from Delhi NCR and members of Roshni from the President's Estate attended the function. The exhibition showcased all the entries, from which the President selected and announced the winner. The new logo will be adopted by the Roshni Prachodaya Society with immediate effect.

A jury comprising four members and headed by the Secretary to the President and the Honorary Chairman of the Roshni Prachodaya Society, Dr. Christy Fernandez screened the entries and short listed them for the President to finally select the winner.

Roshni is a green innovative concept, evolved at the behest of the President of India encompassing environment management and empowerment of local communities, to create eco-friendly sustainable urban habitats through participation of stakeholders and convergence of partnership programmes. Initiated on 25th July 2008, the programme aims to make the President's Estate a model in green, energy efficient and zero waste model township for all other habitats across India.

This release issued at 1300 hrs.