Art of Living is sending conflicting messages about the status of its volunteer effort to clean up after the World Culture Festival.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of the organisation, earlier promised he would restore the Yamuna flood plain and that volunteers would be a part of this effort. On Tuesday, a representative from the Art of Living said the foundation did not need volunteers, and the clean up would be left to professionals.
There is no need for volunteers, we have hired professionals. Volunteers come here from the goodness of their hearts.Atika Dhandia, Core Organiser, World Culture Festival & Director of Training
The statement is different from what Art of Living said on Monday. The foundation told The Quint that volunteers would be at the site between 7 am and 9 am Tuesday morning. When we arrived at the site at 8 am, we found no one cleaning up the site.
A few volunteers trickled in before 9 am. They said they had received an email from the Art of Living to ‘take rest’.
The Quint counted eight volunteers this morning.
At the site, a number of contractors were taking down the 40 foot stage and packing away the chairs. Art of Living says they hired four companies to take care of garbage collection and removal, and waste management.
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