Railways celebrate Swachh Bharat Week

Celebrating Swachh Bharat Week to mark the second anniversary of Swachh Bharat Mission, the Railway Ministry has kicked off countrywide mass mobilisation activities on cleanliness and for open defecation free communities, a statement said on Monday.

The Ministry of Railways has joined hands with the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, and the Ministry of Urban Development to observe Swachh Bharat Week from September 25 (Birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay) to October 2 (Gandhi Jayanti), the statement said.

Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu flagged off the campaign at Kozhikode in Kerala on Sunday in the presence of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

Speaking on the occasion, Venkaiah Naidu expressed concern over open defecation and said that the objective of the campaign was to eliminate the same.

During the campaign period, auditing will be done on the availability of sanitation facilities in municipality areas, Naidu said.

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said that "Swachhta Saptaah", the nine-day campaign in nine key areas, was successfully conducted in railways from September 17 to September 25. Railways will continue to join the Swachh Bharat Mission in a big way mobilising all its resources, he added.

Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar stressed the need for taking the message of cleanliness to rural areas.

--IANS

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