New Delhi: “For ten years, NDTV and Dettol together have been running the campaign of #BanegaSwasthIndia. With a new goal and a new theme, the campaign works towards creating a clean and healthy India. It is my good fortune that the responsibility of carrying forward the work done by Amitabh Bachchan, one of the greatest actors of our time, has fallen on my shoulders,” says Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana as he kick-starts Season 10 of Banega Swasth India campaign, the initiative that began in the year 2014.
Over the years the campaign has touched lives, changed habits, and inspired a healthier nation, to emerge as one of India’s longest running public health campaigns. Talking about embarking the new journey of transformation for the campaign, Ayushmann Khurrana said,
Before we move ahead, I would like to assure Amitabh Bachchan that we will continue to follow the path that he has created and shown. And we will reach the goal which he has named – the goal of complete health.
In the tenth year of the campaign, the agenda is ‘One World Hygiene — Fostering global unity for a healthier tomorrow’.
Talking about the goals and achievements of the campaign, Ayushmann Khurrana added,
We have achieved many goals in the last ten years. Worked on hygiene, set up cleanness in schools, took an oath to keep ten yards of our surrounding clean, moved from cleanliness to health. In between came a challenge like COVID, which had completely stopped the whole world. But Banega Swasth India campaign kept on going strong. We honoured the doctors who were busy saving people’s lives during the pandemic. In the golden age of independence, we decided that we would not leave anyone behind. We talked about one earth, one family, one health. I am proud to say that the benefit of all the hard work done over these years has reached 2 crore and 40 lakh children. This is not a small number.
Further setting up the goal of Season 10 of Banega Swasth India campaign, Ayushmann Khurrana signed off with a message, he added,
Today on 2nd October, which is marked as the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, who gave us the mantra of a new civilization that runs on the message of simplicity and cleanliness, so remembering him, we are starting our tenth year campaign with – ‘Dus Ka Dum’. We will see what has been achieved in the last ten years, what are its lessons – how far we have reached and how far we have to go. Dus Ka Dum includes the ten steps that we have to take towards a ’Swasth and Swachh’ India.
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – theLGBTQ population,indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fightmalnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health,adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoiletsare used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
