Swachh Bharat campaign becomes new path to prosperity: Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Addressing an event marking 10 years of the mission, Prime Minister Modi said the massive participation had transformed the campaign into a new path to prosperity for India.

“You all have made the Swachh Bharat Mission a success,” the Prime Minister said while noting that over 28 million people participated in over 27 lakh events organized in just 15 days during the 'Sewa Pakhwada' .

He said that chief ministers, ministers and other representatives have played a key role in this national effort and stressed that “continued efforts can only lead to a clean India”.

During the event, the Prime Minister inaugurated projects worth approximately 10,000 crore under the Swachh Bharat and AMRUT 2.0 missions which include water and wastewater treatment plants in several states.

“When people talk about 21st century India, even after 1,000 years, they will definitely remember the Swachh Bharat Mission,” Modi said, highlighting the lasting legacy of the cleanliness drive.

The Prime Minister also criticized previous governments for neglecting basic sanitation facilities.

“They never considered dirt and lack of toilets as national problems. It was as if they made dirt a part of their lives,” he said.

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He said those who used Mahatma Gandhi for their political benefits and vote bank have now forgotten his topic of interest. He said filth and lack of toilets had never been seen as a national problem.

As a result, the Prime Minister said, there was no discussion about it in society and lack of cleanliness became a part of life. He also remembers being criticized after raising this issue from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

“The first job of a prime minister is to make life easier for the common man. I spoke about toilets and sanitary napkins, and today we see the results,” he said.

The Prime Minister pointed out that a decade ago, more than 60 percent of the population was forced to defecate in the open, which he termed as an insult to Dalits, backward classes and tribal communities. , and a major source of inconvenience for women.

Modi highlighted the “sufferings of mothers, sisters and daughters due to lack of toilets” and also highlighted the threats to their health and safety. He said filth caused by open defecation endangers the lives of children and is a major cause of child mortality.

He also cited studies and reports that highlight the positive results of the mission.

An international study showed that the Swachh Bharat Mission saves the lives of 60,000 to 70,000 children every year, while a UNICEF report says that more than 90 percent of women feel safer thanks to the construction of domestic toilets, he said.

Additionally, the World Health Organization credited the mission with saving 300,000 lives between 2014 and 2019 by reducing deaths due to diarrhea, Modi added.

The Prime Minister also noted a change in attitude towards sanitation workers, saying the Swachh Bharat Mission has brought them respect and pride.

“Cleanliness is not just a one-day task but a lifelong value,” he said, urging citizens to pass on the value of cleanliness from generation to generation and treat their environment with the same care as places of worship.

Modi said steps have been taken to eliminate problems related to manual cleaning of septic tanks and informed that the government was working with the private and public sectors in this regard.

“We also encourage professionals and start-ups,” he added.

He added that currently, around 5,000 cleantech-related start-ups were registered.

Modi highlighted that many new opportunities are being created in the water and sanitation sector, be it wastage, waste collection and transportation, reuse and recycling of water.

“The Swachh Bharat Mission has given a significant boost to the circular economy in India,” the Prime Minister said, highlighting that waste generated by households is now being converted into valuable resources.

He added that this mission revealed to him the true energy and potential of the people.

Modi said the country should know that thousands of people gave their precious money and time to carry out this mission, even though their faces were never shown on television or their names were never mentioned. never been published in newspapers.

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He added that he thanked the people as well as industries involved in the production of single-use plastic for joining hands and supporting the initiative.

He also thanked the political parties who supported the initiative. “They must have missed criticizing me, but now that I mentioned it, they might start criticizing me,” he said.

The Prime Minister highlighted that more than 12 million toilets have been built in the country and toilet coverage has reached 100 percent, up from less than 40 percent previously.

Highlighting the public awareness brought about by the Swachh Bharat Mission, Modi cited the example of child deaths in Gorakhpur due to brain fever which were addressed with emphasis on cleanliness.

To mark the milestone day, Modi also visited a school to take part in a cleanliness drive with girl students.

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During an interaction with the students, he asked them about the benefits of cleanliness and spoke about the problems, including diseases, caused by lack of toilets. He said his government's focus on building toilets in schools with separate toilets for girls has led to a drastic drop in their dropout rate.

He encouraged them to practice yoga and spoke about the benefits of the Sukanya Samriddhi scheme, under which bank accounts opened for a girl child offer a higher interest rate to also help them in their higher education and marriage.

The Prime Minister asked them to avoid plastic bags and said cleanliness should not be considered a day's job but a daily habit.