Highlights
- I owe my health to the sanitation workers, not expensive doctors: PM
- First build toilets, then temples, says PM
- PM urged students to include cleanliness agenda in university elections
New Delhi: Marking the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s Chicago address and Pandit. Deendayal Upadhyaya centenary celebrations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a gathering of students on the theme of ‘Young India, New India.’ at Vigyan Bhavan. On the occasion, the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and expressed anger over the same people who chant Vande Mataram and then go on to chew pan and spit on roads. He further said that people don’t have the right to say Vande Mataram if they litter roads.
Also Read: Focus On Sewage Treatment Plants To Clean Ganga: Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Do we have the right to say ‘Vande Mataram’ if we cannot keep our nation clean? pic.twitter.com/0NCveQlAYg
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 11, 2017
“Think 50 times if we have the right to chant Vande Mataram. We chew pan and then spit on Mother India. Can we utter Vande Mataram? If you can’t keep your surroundings clean, atleast don’t dirty them,” the Prime Minister said.
I want to specially mention all those people who are working tirelessly to keep India clean: PM @narendramodi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) September 11, 2017
He praised the contribution made by the sanitation workers in keeping the country clean, “If anyone can proudly say Vande Mataram it is the sanitation workers who maintain cleanliness in our daily lives. We think we are healthy because of our hospitals or highly trained doctors, but it is because there is someone who is maintaining cleanliness everyday. I owe my health to the sanitation workers, not to expensive doctors.
Prime Minister Modi also brought up the decade old issue of Ganga pollution and said, “Everyone wishes to take a dip in the holy river atleast once in their lifetime but are we successful in preventing ourselves from polluting it? Can we litter Ganga and then take a holy dip? Swami Vivekananda would’ve never approved of this.”
Also Read: Rural Sanitation Has Risen To 66%, A Healthy Tradition Has Begun: Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Speaking on the issue of open defecation, he said building toilets is more important than building temples, “Ek baar maine bol diya, pehle shauchalay, phir devalay (First build toilets, then temples). It gives me happiness to see our daughters rooting for a toilet before getting married.”
Student organisations, while campaigning for university elections should give more importance to cleanliness: PM @narendramodi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) September 11, 2017
He also took a dig at university elections and said no student organisation focusses on cleanliness as their prime agenda and urged the students to do the same, “student organisations, while campaigning for university elections should give more importance to cleanliness.”
Appreciating the efforts of students who have done wonders by coming up with technological inventions, the Prime Minister said, “There is a silent movement going on to encourage the young minds of India. Around 12-15 students had visited Pranab Mukherjee, the then President of India in Rashtrapati Bhavan with their innovations. I was surprised to see that more than half of them had come with ‘waste-to-wealth’ projects and this is a reflection of the impact Clean India Mission is making.
Also Read: For A ‘Swachh Bharat’ Don’t Just Donate Money, Donate Cleanliness: Prime Minister Narendra Modi
