New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for a unique practice called “plogging” – where one jogs and collects trash, through his popular radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’. The Prime Minister was visibly impressed with the idea and invited the people across the country to walk 2 km on October 2 and take part in “plogging”. He has entrusted the Sports Ministry for the job.
It was a smart move to interlink two of Modi government’s pet project – Swachh Bharat and Fit India, ahead of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The concept of “plogging” was the brainchild of Ripu Daman, who joined Mann Ki Baat through phone and elaborated it was a concept to make “litter free India” look “cool” to the youngsters.
Youngsters get attracted to things that are ‘cool’. Hence, I came up with this idea, said Mr. Daman.
He also gave a three-point solution to make India litter free – put trash in dustbin, pick up litter from road and finally take trash to home in case of unavailability of dustbin.
The Prime Minister also reiterated his strong stand against single-use plastic and invited Indians to be a part of the movement against it on Gandhi Jayanti.
He ended his radio address by reminding about the impending ‘Run for Unity’ on October 31 on the occasion of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s birth anniversary.
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.
