President Mukherjee to flag off "Run for Swachh Bharat" tomorrow

A Run for 'Swachh Bharat' will be flagged-off by President Pranab Mukherjee in Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 4, an official statement said on Friday.

Civilians, defence personnel and para-military/security personnel working/living on the President's Estate will participate in the run, which will begin at 6 a.m.

The event will take place two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his government's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan from central Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said on Thursday that the "Clean India" campaign should not be politicised, and that all must come together for this much required endeavour.

"If this campaign is politically motivated, if this is evaluated by a photo-opportunity on a given day, then we would be doing a disservice to India. We all must come together and do this (clean India) wherever we are, and it is my firm belief that we will be able to clean our motherland," Prime Minister Modi told a gathering at Rajpath.

He asserted that all those countries which are clean are so because their citizens don't litter and don't allow this to happen.

"The secret behind the cleanliness in developed countries is because of the discipline amongst the citizens of that country, which if brought into our system, would be a big thing," he added.

Referring to a WHO evaluation that just by cleanliness every citizen of this nation can save at least Rs.6500, he said, "In India, because of filth, diseases happen, because of which families lose their livelihood, and every year, a citizen of India has to bear an additional burden of Rs.6500. Just by cleaning this filth, at least Rs. 6500 can be saved, and one can save oneself from unemployment," he further added.

He pointed out that another thing that one has to look into is building toilets, since more than sixty percent of our people living in the villages openly defecate.

"What pains me more is when women and sisters do open defecation, and therefore, we all have to do away with this bane. I have also asked those involved with Corporate Social Responsibility to give this priority. Even now, there are no separate toilets for girls in schools, but we have to change this situation. Nobody is at fault. We have to be positive about the future and take a step ahead for this initiative," he added.

Prime Minister Modi also administered a cleanliness pledge to the people and flagged off a walkathon as part of the campaign.

Prior to the official launch of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan , Prime Minister also visited Valmiki Basti here in Gol Market area where he wielded the broom and interacted with the janitors present there.

The cleanliness drive is on in Delhi and other parts of the country. Lakhs of Central government employees working across the country will take a pledge of cleanliness in various public functions being organized today.

The nation-wide Swachh Bharat campaign focuses on sanitation, hygiene and waste management.