Sun Oct 05 14:26:12 UTC 2025: ## Mangaluru Cleanliness Drive Marred by Poster Defacement, Organizer Calls Out Student Group
**Mangaluru, October 5, 2025:** A recent cleanliness drive in Mangaluru, part of the long-running Swacch Mangaluru Abhiyan, was met with disappointment as organizers discovered posters plastered over public spaces that had been previously beautified. Ranjan Bellarpady, chief coordinator of the Mangaluru Ramakrishna Mission’s Swacch Mangaluru Abhiyan, expressed his frustration during a live Facebook broadcast on Sunday.
Bellarpady specifically highlighted posters promoting the Rani Abbakka Abhiyan, an event organized by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishat (ABVP), found on the compound wall of University College, Mangaluru, and pedestrian path railings. He criticized the use of posters in the “digital era” and the failure of the organizers to remove them after the event concluded weeks ago.
The Ramakrishna Mission has been conducting the Swacch Mangaluru Abhiyan since 2015, inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for cleanliness. The mission has cleaned numerous public spaces throughout Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada, often commissioning murals to discourage defacement.
“It is regrettable that the general public, even including responsible student organizations, indulge in defacing public spaces that were beautified during earlier Swacch Mangaluru drives,” Bellarpady stated. He emphasized that maintaining cleanliness is a shared responsibility, not solely the duty of the mission and its volunteers. He lamented the defacement of the murals and other public art by organizations like ABVP, urging all citizens to take ownership of maintaining the cleanliness of their community.
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