New Delhi: Swachh Bharat Mission has gained quite a momentum in the past few years, from 42% in 2014, the sanitation coverage has been scaled up to more than 60 per cent now. At present, over 2 lakh villages have attained the tag of Open Defecation Free. Coming to the status of the states, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Rural Uttarakhand and Haryana have also achieved the mammoth task of becoming free from open defecation. Since the inception of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, more than 4 crore toilets have been built. In the latest edition of the Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation and congratulated the fellow countrymen for this tremendous achievement made by the country under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
We know very well, that tremendous hard work is required to achieve anything worthwhile, whether it is in one’s own life or for the society. Cleanliness is also similar to this. And I’m happy to see that cleanliness is no longer confined to being a government programme. It is getting transformed into a movement by the society and the people. And when government functionaries take this initiative forward with the participation of the masses, it becomes even stronger, said PM Modi in the 33rd edition of Mann Ki Baat.
Swachh Crusaders Of India
Appreciating the district administration work from Vizianagaram District of Andhra Pradesh who organised a Swachh Campaign from 6 am on the 10th of March, till 10 am of the 14th of March, PM Modi added, this was a hundred-hour non-stop campaign, with a simple objective – To construct 10,000 household toilets in 71 gram panchayats in those hundred hours. Together the administration and people were successful in constructructing around 10,000 toilets.
Today, because of this effective swachh campaign, 71 villages in Vizianagaram District have attained the tag of ODF.
I congratulate the people in the government, government officials and the citizens of Vizianagaram district on this great accomplishment of achieving this mammoth task and setting a very inspiring example in the process, added PM Modi.
Highlighting another example of successful Swachh campaign, PM Modi narrated an inspiring incident from Mubarakpur village of Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh where about 3,500 Muslim families decided to get together and construct toilets for themselves in the holy month of Ramzan,
To construct these household toilets, the government gives financial assistance, under which, the families are provided a sum of Rs. 17 lakh. During this holy month of Ramzan, these Muslim brothers and sisters returned this money to the government, saying, they would construct these toilets with their own labour and their own money; and that this sum of Rs. 17 lakh should be used for providing other facilities in the village. I felicitate the residents of Mubarakpur, for transforming the pious occasion of Ramzan into an opportunity for the welfare of society. Each and everything about them is inspiring. And the most important of it all is that they have freed Mubarakpur of the scourge of open defecation.
PM Modi also congratulated the administration, government and especially the people of the five ODF states – Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Rural Uttarakhand and Haryana for achieving this Swachh objective.
Also Read: The Road To Success: How Rural Haryana Achieved The Status Of Open Defecation Free
The main target of the government is to construct around 12 crore toilets in rural India and declare the country Open Defecation by 2019. After ODF Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Rural Uttarakhand and Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab are anticipated to get the ODF status very soon.
Also Read: 3 Years Of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Government: 2 Lakh Villages Declared Open Defecation Free
