Swachhata Hi Seva: Puducherry CM Gets Inside A Drain To Spread The Message Of Cleanliness

New Delhi: Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy wins everyone’s heart on social media during Swachhata Hi Seva week with his short video, where the leader is seen entering the clogged drain barefoot with a shovel in his hand to clean-up the waste and blockage. The video was a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ movement which was launched ahead of Gandhi Jayanti to ensure a high standard of cleanliness across the country. The video posted on Chief Minister’s official social media handle was captioned as, “Cleaning drainage at #Nellithope #Puducherry . #SwachhataHiSeva #SwachhBharat #SwachhBharatMission.”

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Since the time it has been shared, the video has garnered over 27,000 views, 1,297 likes and 106 comments. Many users appreciated the leader’s effort and even called him a role model.

The swachh efforts by CM V Narayanasamy also got thumbs up from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Applauding the efforts, PM Modi said,

Narayanasamy Ji, kudos to you for leading from the front and inspiring others to strengthen the movement to clean India.

Chief Minister V Narayanasamy spent around ten minutes clearing a drain, afterwards he also inspected the market place and interacted with the public to review cleanliness on ground and get feedback. He also inspected the underground sewage work undertaken in Nellithope.

The Swachhata Hi Seva celebrations that culminated on Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, also saw Puducherry declare itself open defecation free (ODF). The official ODF declaration happened at a function held at Kamban Kalai Arangam, Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi along with other senior officials were present at the function.

Kiran Bedi also shared few glimpses of the event on her social media platform, she said,

Historical day for Puducherry, because of the relentless efforts of the people, the Union Territory has achieved the open defecation free (ODF) status today.

Until now, Puducherry was the only Union Territory that had not got the ODF tag. The UT had already missed its initial deadline of going open defecation free by October 2, 2017, and the overall deadline for UTs of March 2018. But, finally this year on Gandhi Jayanti, Puducherry became successful in achieving the ODF status.

Talking to NDTV, Kiran Bedi spoke about the learnings from Puducherry’s open defecation free journey, she said,

To make a region successfully ODF, it is very much important to work on attitude and education, because attitude and resources go hand in hand in making a region successfully open defecation free.

Also Read: Lack Of Toilets, Failure To Encourage Community Toilets A Threat To Children’s Health: Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi

In the Union Territory, till date 935 individual household toilets and 57 community toilets have been constructed in the urban parts, 27,965 household toilets have been successfully built in the rural regions. Shifting the focus from ODF to sustaining the ODF tag and door-to-door waste collection system along with scientific processing and disposal of waste, Puducherry now aims to successfully achieve the status of ODF Plus and ODF Plus Plus under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

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.