Dettol- Banega Swachh India announces Big B as its ambassador (Lead, correcting name)

Dettol- Banega Swachh India Thursday introduced Amitabh Bachchan as the ambassador of the campaign. The Bollywood megastar said that if his face and voice helps the cause, he will be "honoured".

The five-year programme is aimed at addressing the rising need for hygiene and sanitation in the country.

"There are a few causes that I feel very strongly about like saving the tiger, eradicating polio and TB. Sanitation has been on my mind for a very long time and when the opportunity presented itself, I had to be a part of this movement," Amitabh told reporters Thursday.

"If my face and voice helps this cause, I will be honoured. I hope that like we successfully achieved success with polio eradication I hope we will be able to be successful with this campaign as well," said the superstar, who has been the Goodwill Ambassador for the Polio UNICEF campaign which has seen the disease eradicated from the country.

With a commitment to making India healthier and cleaner by 2019, RB (formerly called Reckitt Benckiser) has made a promise to invest Rs.100 crore towards the initiative.

To kick off the programme a Dettol - Banega Swachh India bus will be flagged off in October, which will cover around 400 villages across eight states - Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The objective is to create awareness about hygiene and sanitation through interactive videos, flyer distributions, posters, hand washing sessions and street plays.