20-year-old Indian who cleaned polluted river gets ‘job offer’ from Dutch founder

Slat, who founded the Netherlands-based organisation that develops large-scale solutions to tackle plastic pollution, replied simply: “Come work for us.”

Come work for us @Surendr75950620

— Boyan Slat (@BoyanSlat) September 4, 2026

The brief response soon went viral, with social media users interpreting it as a job offer to Singh. An X account, @IndianGems_, claimed that Slat had offered Bittu a job and a move to the Netherlands after seeing his river-cleaning efforts.

Check out the post:

Dutch founder Boyan Slat has offered 20 year old Bittu a job and a move to the Netherlands after his viral river-cleaning video: Report pic.twitter.com/3PTaE6199j

— 🚨Indian Gems (@IndianGems_) September 5, 2026

The development triggered a range of reactions online, with some users urging Singh to accept the opportunity and move abroad.

“He should accept the offer and leave India. Nobody cares about his hard work here. Life gives you very few chances to leave hellhole,” one user wrote.

Another commented, “Western countries moved ahead because they learned to respect work. India, meanwhile, is still busy treating politicians like their fathers.”

A third user wrote, “He got the opportunity, he should go asap to get out of this hell of a country deluded by country pride based on fake history.”

Who is Bittu Tabahi?

Surendra Singh Choudhary, popularly known as Bittu Tabahi, is from Biaora in Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district and has gained a following online for documenting his efforts to clean the Ajnar River.

Videos shared on his Instagram show him removing plastic waste, algae and other accumulated debris from different parts of the river. He reportedly started the cleanup in January this year and has since transformed sections of the polluted waterway.

According to digital content creator KR Talks, Singh has spent around Rs 30,000 on the cleanup so far.

His work had already earned recognition from industrialist Anand Mahindra, who shared a post in March praising the young man after some people criticised him for allegedly cleaning the river simply to gain social media views.

“This young man from Biaora, M.P, was criticised for claiming to have cleaned parts of a river just in order to gain social media views. Well, we usually complain that social media rewards the trivial rather than the meaningful. So if a desire for ‘likes’ can become a force for good that’s fine with me. Bittu Tabahi from Biaora is my #MondayMotivation,” Mahindra wrote.

Who is Boyan Slat?

Boyan Slat is a Dutch inventor and entrepreneur best known for founding The Ocean Cleanup, an organisation focused on developing technologies to remove plastic from oceans and rivers.

According to the organisation’s official website, “Boyan Slat (27 July 1994) is a Dutch inventor and entrepreneur, passionate about creating megaprojects to address planetary problems.”

The Ocean Cleanup says its long-term goal is to remove 90 per cent of floating ocean plastic by 2040, with the organisation ultimately aiming to put itself out of business once that goal is achieved.