Aamir Khan urged students to join and volunteer Shramdaan (Labour donation) across villages in Maharashtra fighting against water scarcity and drought situations.
Aamir Khan along with Pune Collector Naval Kishore, actor and director Girish Kulkarni and Satyajit Bhatkal, CEO Paani Foundation addressed the students and media personnel spreading awareness about Paani Foundation.
The actor stuck posters in the college along with the Principal of the institution and urged the students to extend their support. Speaking at a college in Pune, Founder of Paani Foundation, Aamir Khan appealed to students and all urban citizens to become 'Jalmitras' and join this effort against drought.
Aamir Khan shared on his Instagram a picture from Pune and urged students via his social media as well to join Shramdaan.
The actor sought permission from the Founder and President of Symbiosis S.B. Mujumdar to stick a poster on notice board so that majority of people join the cause.
Aamir Khan shared a picture on Twitter urging people to join the initiative saying, "Come join us on 1st May. Love, a.".
The actor also tagged other celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, Rajkummar Rao, Swara Bhasker, Richa Chadha, Abhishek Bachchan amongst other. Talking about the same he said, "I have tagged a lot of celebrities in my tweets, the idea is that the information should reach a larger number of people".
On Maharashtra day i.e. May 1st this year, Aamir Khan's Paani Foundation will be providing a unique opportunity for people to come out in large number and work shoulder-to-shoulder with villagers for a few hours.
By signing up on the link jalmitra.paanifoundation.in, people from cities can register to work in villages with villagers on 1st May which is Maharashtra Day. The last date for registration for 1st May Mahashramdaan is midnight on 25th April. Past three weeks already witnessed over 1 lakh people signing up for the cause.
If you do not have to time to travel to a village on 1st May you could also contribute by donating money towards machine work for creating watershed management structures, and by volunteering to help the villagers with certain tasks. Just visit www.paanifoundation.in and all your questions will be answered.
In 2016 Paani Foundation, a nonprofit company started by Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao organized the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup which is a competition held each year between villages to see which village does the best work in watershed management. This is a people's movement for a water-abundant, prosperous Maharashtra. Paani Foundation trains people in the science of watershed management, and villagers then plan and execute various watershed management works in their village with help from the government and NGOs.
The movement has steadily grown, and over the past two years, thousands of people in cities expressed the desire to contribute to this effort. To make it possible to volunteer and participate in different ways, Paani Foundation created the 'Jalmitra' - or 'Friend of Water' initiative, which it launched on World Water Day - 22nd March 2018. Anyone, anywhere in the world can be a Jalmitra by signing up on the link jalmitra.paanifoundation.in.
On the 1st of May, there will be a 'Mahashramdaan' across Maharashtra in all 75 talukas of the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup, where tens of thousands of citizens, both urban and rural will meet and work together for water abundance. Aamir Khan said he believes that this partnership between rural and urban will not only help the villagers but the city folk as well, to come closer to understanding our farmer friends, and knowing where our food, water and labour comes from. It will help to bridge the chasm between cities and villages, and go a long way towards creating a more equitable and humane relationship between the two. He urged the students to join the fight against water scarcity, and help work towards a prosperous and happy Maharashtra.