New Delhi: On October 2, while celebrating the birthday of the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi, NDTV-Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign will observe Rashtriya Swachhta Diwas. The aim is to get all of India together and engage the country’s masses in a nationwide cleaning (sanitation) movement.
84 Ghats in Varanasi, 47 railway stations including the iconic Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai, along with other iconic locations, will see clean-up activities as part of a collective effort to make India a truly Swachh country.
These clean-up activities will also see the participation of thousands of school students who will not only learn the importance of maintaining personal and public hygiene but also be a part of cleaning their country.
Fronted by the nation’s biggest superstar, Amitabh Bachchan, who has been associated with the campaign for the last three years, the aim is to make everyone realize that cleanliness is a personal task and no person or organization is solely responsible for it.
The third year of this campaign will raise many arguable points such as the state of the municipal corporations, lack of safai karamcharis, ways to dispose and segregate waste, issues pertaining to landfills, drainage and sewerage, conditions of rivers and dams amongst many other topics.
As charity begins at home, so does cleanliness. To bring this point home, the campaign is highlighting the fact that each one of us can take ownership of our neighborhoods and strive to ensure cleanliness.
Supporting this point, Amitabh Bachchan, thus, urges each individual to take the onus of public hygiene in their hands and clean ten yards outside their homes to spark a cleanliness culture amongst all.
The idea is that if each person cleans their part of the locality, India’s cleanliness becomes everyone’s responsibility and together the country can set a better and cleaner future.
After the previous two cycles of the campaign’s swachhta activities, which raised over 1.16 crore volunteering hours towards cleanliness and Rs 281 crores in funds for building toilets in some of the remotest parts of the country, this year wishes to echo the sentiments of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The government’s flagship mission of Swachh Bharat Abhyan which has drawn up a list of 100 popular places across the country to be made of an international standard of cleanliness, the campaign will focus on the initial ten places on the list.
The campaign has visited these ten places and created specific agendas for each location with actionable points. These will be discussed with policy makers during the Cleanathon. By giving singular attention to each of them, the underlining idea of preserving these tourist spot of India and making them into models of Swachhta can be achieved.
