Ministries start implementing Swacch Bharat Abhiyan action

Acting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's directive, all the ministries have started implementing action plans regarding the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' with a commitment of about Rs 5,300 crore.
The idea behind preparing these action plans is to integrate sanitation as core function of all Central government organisations and ministries in order to take the cleanliness drive to the next level, official sources said.
The execution of the plans will be monitored by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Rural Development Ministry along with the Urban Development Ministry, official sources said.
Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary, Drinking Water and Sanitation, confirmed that all the central ministries have prepared the action plans and have started implementing the same.

"All ministries have prepared the action plans for Swachh Bharat Mission for the current financial year 2017-18 and for 2018-19. The respective ministries have committed Rs 5,300 crore budget for sanitation this year," he told PTI.
Iyer added that the execution of the action plans will also be monitored through an online portal.

The Prime Minister had yesterday reviewed the implementation of Swachhta Action Plans and said that events such as Swachhta fortnights should be converted into movements towards permanent solutions.
Ministries have also been asked to plan special drives on important days like Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas, Republic Day, World Water Day, Ambedkar Jayanti, International Women's Day, World heritage Day and World Environment Day, the sources added.

To accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage and to put focus on sanitation, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on 2nd October, 2014.