ISM students at the induction ceremony of Peta in Dhanbad on Sunday. Picture by Gautam Dey

Dhanbad, April 17: Students of Indian School of Mines (ISM) will raise their voice for those who communicate in barks, bleats, chirps and moos.

The latest branch of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) was launched at the premier cradle’s Golden Jubilee Lecture Theatre today.

A series of contests such as crossword and an animal quiz was also held for 40 new members from ISM. The outfit also screened some videos.

Budding technocrats will now launch campaigns to spread vegetarianism, and petition against cruelty on animals.

Shubham Mishra, a first-year BTech petroleum engineering student credited for spearheading the launch of the Peta branch at ISM, said the 40 members were selected after a three-day group discussion and interviews on campus last week. Members are divided into four teams — organising, communication, sponsorship and creative.

Highlighting the need to launch a branch at ISM, Shubham said: “There are more incidents of cruelty to animals in small cities. In most cases, animals are used for entertainment. So we thought it necessary to have a chapter of Peta here. We contacted Peta authorities who handpicked 40 students out of 60, during which leadership, persuasive skills and other qualities of the candidates were judged.”

Newbie member and first-year computer science student Nitish Gupta said the organising team would hold awareness events across the district, while the communication team would interact with the media.

“Raising funds will be the onus of the sponsorship team. The creative team will bring about innovative ideas to spread animal rights awareness,” Nitish added.

Their active campaigning starts off with a punch. “As part of the ‘Dishum Campaign’, we will collect signatures to mobilise support to ban use of animals for medical experiments as part of a national programme and send a copy to the director of New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences, R.C. Deka,” said first-year student Partha Joshi.