My 'garbage free' call in 2002, way before time: Parrikar

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Friday said that his decision to choose Mahatma Gandhi's birthday to spread the cleanliness message in 2002, 12 years before Prime Minister Narendra Modi emulated him, was way before time so it was criticized.

Addressing a press conference in Panaji, he said that all educational institutions and government offices would carry out a two-hour cleaning drive under the 'Nitol Goem' (Clean Goa) campaign which was launched Thursday, ahead of Modi's Swachh Bharat initiative scheduled to start Oct 2.

"Twelve years ago, maybe I was slightly out of tune. What you propose is too early, then the problem comes. In 2002, I had done the same thing, I was criticised for it," Parrikar said, admitting that the issue of garbage and hygiene had become serious in Goa.

The chief minister said that under the Nitol Goem campaign, Goa would be garbage free by Dec 19, 2015.

Parrikar, 58, during his first stint as the first Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister of Goa, has announced a slew of decisions, some controversial, which included cancellation of Gandhi Jayanti as a government holiday and making government servants use brooms to clean their offices on the day for two hours.