Modi launches 'Clean India', says it's patriotism not politics

Prime Minister urges people to change their mindset and work towards keeping their surroundings cleans

Explaining that keeping India clean was beyond politics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday co-opted a brace of celebrities, including at least one active member of the Congress party, to take forward the government’s Swachchh Bharat (clean India) campaign.

Modi launched the programme amid tight security at Rajpath (where there was no discernible rubbish) by taking a broom himself and sweeping the road. Then, on his way to Valmiki Basti on the city’s Mandir Marg, he made an unscheduled stop at a nearby police station, where he wielded the broom to sweep the station clean. He also told policemen there that it was their duty to keep the premises tidy at all times.

The PM announced initiating a chain by inviting nine eminent personalities — cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, industrialist Anil Ambani, and actors Priyanka Chopra, Salman Khan and Kamal Hassan, besides others — to spread awareness on cleanliness. An idea derived from the ALS Ice-Bucket Challenge, Modi asked the celebrities to nominate nine more people to join the campaign and hoped the chain would continue.

Interestingly, the names of Amitabh Bachchan and Lata Mangeshkar — both avowed admirers of Modi — were missing from the list of campaigners. And, Tendulkar, also a Rajya Sabha member, was in the news recently for not having enough time to attend the mandatory House sittings.

Others made part of the campaign on Thursday were Goa Governor Mridula Sinha, yoga guru Ramdev and the team of TV serial Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. Modi also administered a pledge of remaining committed to the cause of cleanliness for the country to thousands of people, including school children and government employees, at Rajpath.

“I will remain committed towards cleanliness and devote time for it... I will neither litter nor let others litter,” pledged all those present at a function to mark the launch of the ‘Swachchh Bharat’ mission at India Gate.

Actor Aamir Khan also joined the PM in taking the pledge, along with Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Venkaiah Naidu, and offered to become a brand ambassador for the campaign. Ambani said he was honoured to be part of the mission.

“I have invited nine people and asked them to come to public places and work towards a clean India. I ask them to invite nine more people too... I am sure these nine people will do the work and each will invite nine more to form a chain and clean the country,” Modi said.

The original ice-bucket challenge, where such a chain was created online, was designed to raise funds for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease and motor neurone disease), a global viral phenomenon

Modi also announced starting a campaign on cleanliness through social media, using his website MyGov.in and other such platforms, including a new website dedicated to the clean India campaign. All the people he has chosen for his team are those with big following on the social media.

The PM later joined children in a ‘Walkathon’ he flagged off at Rajpath. This was part of Modi’s steps for creating awareness on cleanliness.

Administering the pledge to countrymen on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Modi highlighted the cleanliness thrust of the Father of the Nation and said India must realise his unfulfilled dream of a clean country, by 2019, the year of Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.

“Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of an India that would not only be free but clean and developed. He secured freedom for ‘Mother India’. Now, it is our duty to serve her by keeping the country neat and clean,” said the first lines of the pledge.

Every individual present was asked to take a pledge to devote time for the cause of cleanliness. “I will devote 100 hours per year — that is two hours per week — to voluntary work for cleanliness. I will neither litter nor let others litter... I will initiate the quest for cleanliness with myself, my family, my locality, my village and my workplace. I believe the countries of the world that appear clean are so because their citizens do not indulge in littering, nor do they allow it to happen. With this firm belief, I will propagate the message of the Swachchh Bharat mission in villages and towns.”

The prime minister also exhorted people to encourage 100 others to take this pledge and try to make each devote 100 hours a year for cleanliness.

 

Similarity with campaign in Singapore

 

The PM’s campaign is strong reminiscent of a similar campaign for cleanliness launched by Singapore in 1968. Started by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, the Keep Singapore Clean Campaign was one of the first campaigns launched by the government. The objective was to make Singapore the cleanest city in the region, in order to boost tourism and the attraction of foreign investment. 

 

The Keep Singapore Clean Campaign had a positive impact throughout the years, tackling many issues such as mosquitoes, pollution, inconsiderate littering, street hawkers and sanitation. Posters and banners were displayed, while seminars and spot checks were carried out. Competitions such as the cleanest offices, toilets, buses and taxis were organised. On the other hand, the dirties places were also named in the media so as to apply social pressure to their owners.

 

A decade-long campaign was also launched between 1977 and 1987 to clean up the Singapore River and the Kallang Basin. By the mid-eighties, most garbage in the waters was removed. The river was clean enough that a mass swim was organised in 1984.

 

From Broom to Groom

 

When the campaign was successful, the government began to address other cultural challenges. In 1970, the government began to strongly “discourage” male Singaporeans with long hair. Students were forced to go for haircuts, while immigration officers began to turn away visitors with long hairs and confiscate the passports of affected Singaporeans if they were going aboard.

 

The definition of “long hair” was finally determined in 1972, and became a government policy officially. Male civil servants who refused to cut their hairs short were sacked. Public who visited various government bodies were attended last in queues if they sported long hair.

 

Groups of long-haired men were rounded up by police. Japanese musician Kitaro and British rock band Led Zeppelin were not permitted to perform in Singapore. Bee Gees, however, were allowed to hold a  concert at the National Theatre in 1972, but were made to leave the country immediately after that.