Making an appeal to an apolitical movement led by the patriotism, the
prime minister Narendra Modi launched Bharat SWACHH, or Clean India
Mission on the anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi.
The mission will aim to make India "clean" October 2, 2019, the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, said Mr. Modi. This includes the elimination of open defecation, which he called a "social evil", especially for young women and girls.
Mr. Modi marked outside the mission in Valmiki Basti, a partnership of housing in the center of Delhi for sanitation workers, where the Mahatma Gandhi once stayed for a short time. The PM razed a small area, paid his respects at a temple, dedicated public toilets to residents and carried out an inspection of surprise sanitation in the local police station, news agencies reported - the event was off-limits to the media private.
Then he came to Rajpath, the ceremonial avenue central Delhi, where school, cabinet ministers Union, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung Delhi, actor Aamir Khan and boxer Vijender Singh were waiting. Mr. Modi presented awards to the winners of the logo and slogan of the Mission, whose winning entries were part of all advertising material.
"Bapu gave us the message 'Quit India. India Clean', but 'Clean India dream remains unfulfilled," said Mr. Modi, speaking in Hindi. Referring to the winning logo, which features round-rimmed glasses Mahatma Gandhi, Mr. Modi said, "When I saw the logo, I felt like Gandhi is watching us through those glasses to see if we made the clean India yet. " He asked his countrymen to give Gandhi the gift of a clean India for its 150th anniversary of birth. "I am confident that India will give us clean as much joy as Quit India" he said.
Trying to hit a non-political note, Mr. Modi said that patriotism and not politics should inspire the mission. "I'm not saying that our newly elected government has done everything possible to sanitation. I commend all governments before me, the governments of the Union and the state, businesses and volunteer groups governments," he said. Cleaning should not be the job of sanitation workers alone, he said. No BJP politicians were seen at the event, however,
Apart from crowd-sourcing the logo and slogan of the Mission, Mr. Modi also asked citizens to take pictures of garbage, load them on social networks, upload videos of them cleaning the land, and eventually up a picture of the recycling center. He also invited nine people - Goa governor Mridula Sinha, Shashi Tharoor, cricket star Sachin Tendulkar, actors Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Kamal Haasan, Industrial Anil Ambani, yoga practitioner Baba Ramdev, and the crew of the television series Tarak Mehta Ka Ulta Chashma - to join him in his mission cleaning, and asked them to nominate more than nine, and so on.
Mr. Khan joined Mr. Modi on stage as the PM was given a promise to the crowd that they would not refuse and keep aside two hours each week to clean their environment. The same promise was given in government offices across the country. Mr. Modi then led the school for a kilometer walk.
With its emphasis on no littering, program, launched with great fanfare, not go far enough to address the real challenges of India, experts worry sanitation. The direction of the PM mentioned only briefly open defecation, and the garment is administered across the country no talk of toilets or their use. "Due to the open defecation kills thousands of babies and stunts the growth of children and of our workforce, we must not be distracted from it by the garbage," health economist Dean Spears who has shown the link between sanitation and childhood stunting, told The Hindu.
The mission will aim to make India "clean" October 2, 2019, the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, said Mr. Modi. This includes the elimination of open defecation, which he called a "social evil", especially for young women and girls.
Mr. Modi marked outside the mission in Valmiki Basti, a partnership of housing in the center of Delhi for sanitation workers, where the Mahatma Gandhi once stayed for a short time. The PM razed a small area, paid his respects at a temple, dedicated public toilets to residents and carried out an inspection of surprise sanitation in the local police station, news agencies reported - the event was off-limits to the media private.
Then he came to Rajpath, the ceremonial avenue central Delhi, where school, cabinet ministers Union, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung Delhi, actor Aamir Khan and boxer Vijender Singh were waiting. Mr. Modi presented awards to the winners of the logo and slogan of the Mission, whose winning entries were part of all advertising material.
"Bapu gave us the message 'Quit India. India Clean', but 'Clean India dream remains unfulfilled," said Mr. Modi, speaking in Hindi. Referring to the winning logo, which features round-rimmed glasses Mahatma Gandhi, Mr. Modi said, "When I saw the logo, I felt like Gandhi is watching us through those glasses to see if we made the clean India yet. " He asked his countrymen to give Gandhi the gift of a clean India for its 150th anniversary of birth. "I am confident that India will give us clean as much joy as Quit India" he said.
Trying to hit a non-political note, Mr. Modi said that patriotism and not politics should inspire the mission. "I'm not saying that our newly elected government has done everything possible to sanitation. I commend all governments before me, the governments of the Union and the state, businesses and volunteer groups governments," he said. Cleaning should not be the job of sanitation workers alone, he said. No BJP politicians were seen at the event, however,
Apart from crowd-sourcing the logo and slogan of the Mission, Mr. Modi also asked citizens to take pictures of garbage, load them on social networks, upload videos of them cleaning the land, and eventually up a picture of the recycling center. He also invited nine people - Goa governor Mridula Sinha, Shashi Tharoor, cricket star Sachin Tendulkar, actors Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Kamal Haasan, Industrial Anil Ambani, yoga practitioner Baba Ramdev, and the crew of the television series Tarak Mehta Ka Ulta Chashma - to join him in his mission cleaning, and asked them to nominate more than nine, and so on.
Mr. Khan joined Mr. Modi on stage as the PM was given a promise to the crowd that they would not refuse and keep aside two hours each week to clean their environment. The same promise was given in government offices across the country. Mr. Modi then led the school for a kilometer walk.
With its emphasis on no littering, program, launched with great fanfare, not go far enough to address the real challenges of India, experts worry sanitation. The direction of the PM mentioned only briefly open defecation, and the garment is administered across the country no talk of toilets or their use. "Due to the open defecation kills thousands of babies and stunts the growth of children and of our workforce, we must not be distracted from it by the garbage," health economist Dean Spears who has shown the link between sanitation and childhood stunting, told The Hindu.
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