Modi calls for making 'Clean India' a mass movement

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday called for making "Swacch Bharat" (Clean India) mission a mass movement and said the government offices up to panchayat level would be involved in a cleanliness drive to be conducted from Sep 25 till Diwali.

A PMO statement said that Mission Swacch Bharat will launched Oct 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, "to create a Clean India of Gandhiji's dreams by the Mahatma's 150th birth anniversary in 2019".

Modi, who chaired a high-level meeting on the mission, said that all government departments will actively participate in it.

Noting if people clean their homes around Diwali every year, he asked why this attitude can not be extended to overall cleanliness, and called for a change in "governance attitude towards hygiene and sanitation."

Modi said that the pursuit of cleanliness can be an economic activity, contributing to GDP growth, reduction in healthcare costs and a source of employment.

Linking cleanliness to tourism and global interest in India, he said that world-class levels of hygiene and cleanliness were required in India's top 50 tourist destinations to bring about a paradigm shift in global perception.

Modi also spoke of his vision of solid waste management and waste water management through the public private partnership model in 500 towns and cities across India. The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu and Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Senior government officials including Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth were present.