Context: Recently, Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas launched - SAKSHAM - to create awareness among the consumers of fossil fuels.
Key Points

• It will be a month long campaign, highlighting the adverse health and environmental impacts of increasing carbon footprints. 
• The campaign through various pan-India activities such as cyclothon, farmer workshops, etc will spread awareness among masses about the advantages of using clean fuels. 

About SAKSHAM

• Idea: To convince consumers to switch to cleaner fuels and bring in behavioral change to use fossil fuel intelligently. 
• It was launched in 2017 and since then has been launched every year by the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
• 2021 Theme - Green and Clean Energy - which not only focuses on conserving fossil fuels but also on promoting green energy. 
• The campaign will also spread awareness about 7 key drivers that would help India move towards cleaner energy.

The key drivers include

• Moving towards a gas-based economy, 
• Cleaner use of fossil fuels, 
• Greater reliance on domestic sources to drive biofuels, 
• Achieving renewable targets with the set deadlines, 
• Increased use of electric vehicles to decarbonize mobility, 
• Increased use of cleaner fuels like Hydrogen, and 
• Digital innovation across all energy systems.

Need for such campaigns: Leveraging technologies and digital innovation to achieve the twin goals of energy efficiency and sustainability as India witnesses increasing energy demands, moving forward.

Significance

• Saksham like initiatives help in reducing fuel consumption and adoption of energy efficiency measures.
• This will lead to better lives of the people, healthy environment, sustainability and development of the country. 

Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA)

• It is a registered society set up under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India, in 1978.  
• As a non-profit organization, PCRA is a national government agency engaged in promoting energy efficiency in various sectors of economy.  
• It helps the government in proposing policies and strategies for petroleum conservation, aimed at reducing excessive dependence of the country on oil requirement.  
• Over the years, PCRA has enlarged its role in improving productivity in use of various sources of energy.