Swachch Bharat Saptah from 25 September to 2 October

Ahmedabad, 19 September 2014

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch his pet project of cleaning up the country, the Swachha Bharat Yojna, on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary on October 2. The urban development ministry has initiated efforts for the cleanliness drive to begin from Delhi.

The preparatory drive will begin from September 25, coinciding with the birth anniversary of late Jan Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhyay, where the first stage will begin with keeping homes clean, followed by keeping neighbourhoods clean and then by keeping government office premises clean.

Chairing a high-level meeting to review preparations for the launch of Mission Swachh Bharat, Shri Narendra Modi today said that Mission Swachh Bharat should become the agenda of the entire country, in the form of a mass movement to be launched on October 2nd, with the aim of creating a clean India by 2019.

He said the activities on October 2nd should not be limited to the Prime Minister`s functions in the national capital. Activities related to cleanliness should be undertaken in each and every village across the country, he said, highlighting the need for working together with State Governments to make this Mission a success. Gandhiji should be our inspiration for Swachh Bharat, he added.

The Prime Minister highlighted the need for creating a legal architecture that would institutionalize Mission Swachh Bharat at all levels, upto the village level. He asked the Ministry of Rural Development to explore the possibility of incentivizing best performing villages. He also called for standards of cleanliness to be established for Government offices.

The Prime Minister underlined the importance of creating specific roles for various public representatives, including MPs, MLAs, Sarpanches etc.

Various Union Ministries, including the Ministries of Urban Development, Rural Development, Human Resource Development and Information & Broadcasting, presented their concepts on the Mission. Towns along river bank of the Ganga and its tributaries will be accorded top priority in Mission Swachh Bharat.

In a separate communication, the Gujarat government today announced celebration of ‘Swachch Bharat Saptah’ in Gujarat too from 25 September to 2nd October. Road and street cleaning day, school-college cleanliness day, hospital cleanliness day, toilet cleanliness day, institution cleanliness day, hotel/restaurant/bakery other food-joints cleanliness day, pledge for cleanliness day.