New Delhi: Union Minister for Rural Development Nitin Gadkari said that ‘Swachh Bharat Mission', the pet mission of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be converted into a mass movement to make India an open defecation free country in five years.
Gadkari on Thursday informed that Rs 1,34,000 (one lakh thirty four thousand crore) will be spent for construction of about 11 crore 11 lakh toilets in the country.
The Urban Development Ministry will earmark more than 60,000 crore rupees for this purpose.
The Minister also underlined that technology will be used on a large scale to convert waste into wealth in rural India in the forms of bio-fertilizer and different forms of energy.
Gadkari said that the mission will be executed on war footing with the involvement of every gram panchayat, panchayat samiti and Zila Parishad in the country, besides roping in large sections of rural population and school teachers and students in this endeavour.
The Ministry has decided to observe the ‘week' from September 26 to October 2 as ‘Panchayat Panchayat Week' for creation of awareness about sanitation and cleanliness.
Religious, social and cultural organizations across the country will be asked to cooperate in this sacred mission, he added.
‘Swachh Bharat Mission' will be launched by Modi on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti. It aims at making India an open defecation free country by 2019, coinciding with the celebration of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
