Badal calls for community participation for clean India

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today administered a cleanliness pledge under the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan' to government officials here.
On the occasion of the 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Badal avowed people to maintain cleanliness in and around their houses, public places and workplaces.
People pledged to devote at least 100 hours per year and two hours every week to keep respective areas clean, an official spokesman said.
Addressing the gathering at Shekpura near here, Badal said that people should take up the cudgels of keeping the country clean.
"Government has provided enough infrastructure and funds to keep the state clean. It is the people who will have to step forward, take the onus and ensure that we keep our cities as clean as the foreign shores we visit," he said.

While the SAD-BJP government in state was committed to keep the cities and villages clean, it is also responsibility of its citizens to not litter, he said.

The Chief Minister urged people to be disciplined.
Instead of piling up agricultural waste on vacant land and creating a dumping ground, he asked farmers to stack waste in a corner of their fields.
Citizens were asked to clean their houses and throw household waste to garbage collector or dump it at common garbage collection sites.
He asked people, especially those in villages, to demonstrate exemplary determination and commitment by taking special initiative for removing the agriculture waste (biomass) and cattle-dung stacked on the panchayat land.

This initiative would ensure a clean, green, pollution-free and a healthy environment thereby, improving the quality of life of the people residing there, he said.
The sense of cleanliness should be instilled in a child right from the time he or she learns to walk.
Asking government officers and employees to be a role model for others, he said the spirit of cleanliness should be imbibed from deep within.