Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said a 1,000 Mahatma Gandhis, one lakh Narendra Modis and all the country's chief ministers coming together cannot achieve the target of a 'Clean India', if it does not have the participation of 125 crore united Indians.
"We cannot achieve the target (of a Clean India) even if 1,000 Mahatma Gandhis, one lakh Narendra Modis, chief ministers and all governments come together. We can achieve it (only) when all 125 crore countrymen come together," Modi said.
The Prime Minister’s remarks came while he was addressing an event at Vigyan Bhavan to mark three years of the Centre's Swachh Bharat Mission, coinciding with Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary.
PM Modi said that the country had come a long way since but a lot remained to be done before the Clean India target could be achieved.
He noted that the media and members of civil society had played a key role in propagating the importance of cleanliness. There was need for introspection if the programme had not gained the desired momentum notwithstanding the support from these sections, he stressed.
Modi stressed that the cleanliness mission can never be successful unless it is viewed from the prism of women, who face difficulties due to lack of toilets, and lauded children for being the ambassador of the key programme.
Modi said that the Swachh Bharat Mission had now become a dream on the common man in the country. “A positive spirit of competition has been created due to Swachh Bharat Mission. We see this in the cleanliness rankings, how organisations are working on cleanliness,” he said, lauding all those who supported and took part in the Swachhata Hi Seva movement.
The Prime Minister said that India has accepted the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. The movement has become a people's movement due to the 'Siddhi' of Swachhagrahis (swachhta seekers).
“I keep saying - this is the start. We should continue the momentum built by the movement.”
Modi also stressed on the need for change in societal mindset, but said it was an issue that should not deter the government or authorities from continuing with their efforts. "The Swachh Bharat Mission is about both 'vyavastha' (preparation) and 'vichar' (thought process and mindset)," Modi said in his speech.
Modi emphasised that all humans appreciate cleanliness, but not everyone personally takes charge of it. That, he said, is where the gap in the dream lies. "Nobody denies the need for cleanliness, but we don't want to do it ourselves. Instead of waiting for the government to create clean surroundings, people need to start involving themselves in the process," he said.
The PM also cited a UNICEF report that surveyed 10,000 families and found that those who did not build toilets or pay attention to cleanliness, spent atleast Rs 50,000 annually on disease-related expenditure, in the form of medicines, lost income, loans, and other things.
Modi said there still existed skeptics who poke fun at the cleanliness drive but these should not deter the movement that the country has set itself on.
“India faces challenges but that does not mean we run away from them. We will face them and work to overcome them,” he said.
The PM also asked people to not discourage those who were practicing cleanliness if the government was telling them to do so.
"There are several other issues to criticise Modi. (Some) people will give you thousand issues to do so...But do not discourage those who are maintaining cleanliness," he added.
Stating that cleanliness was very crucial in India's bid to become a superior country, Modi urged against politicisation of the issue.
(With PTI inputs)
