Come Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose cleanliness drive has echoed through the Red Fort and the corridors of the United Nation General Assembly, will launch Swachh Bharat campaign, with top politicians and babus leading the way. 
FILE - Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Capitol Hill in Washington. AP Photo
FILE - Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Capitol Hill in Washington. AP Photo
Modi will launch Swachh Bharat campaign from Boat Club area on Rajpath in New Delhi on Thursday morning. A road walkathon will be flagged off. Rajpath will be closed from 5 am till noon on October 2.
According to reports, those who take part in the launch include five thousand school children, college and university students, government officials, diplomats, expats and corporate houses' representatives.
The prime minister, who would administer the Cleanliness Pledge to children and others, will also take part in the walkathon.
While ministers such as Uma Bharati and Ravi Shankar Prasad are travelling to different cities to promote the campaign, the government offices will administer the cleanliness pledge at 9.45 am on Thursday.
OFFICES CLOSED
All central government offices in South Block, North Block and ShastriBhawan among others are being closed on Wednesday at 2 PM.
Besides them, offices situated in Rail Bhawan, Shram Shakti Bhawan, Udyog Bhawan, Nirman Bhawan and Vigyan Bhawan are also being closed early, said an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
FILE - President Barack Obama escorts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington. AP Photo
FILE - President Barack Obama escorts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington. AP Photo
The offices will remain closed in connection with the arrangements for the nation-wide launch of 'Swachh Bharat' (Clean India) campaign by Modi.
These offices will remain closed between 2 pm on Wednesday till 10.30 am on October 2, the order said.
The offices in CSIR building, Reserve Bank of India, Yojna Bhawan, National Archives, Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, National Media Centre, Jawahar Bhawan, Vayu Bhawan, Sena Bhawan, National Museum, Vigyan Bhawan Annexe, CCA, Ministry of Agriculture, 16-A, Akbar Road, DRDO Bhawan, Raksha Bhawan, National Stadium, Hyderabad House and Coast Guard HQ are also being closed early.
FILE - Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. AP Photo
FILE - Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. AP Photo
"Government offices located in Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament House would remain closed from 10 PM on October 1, 2014 till 10.30 AM on October 2, 2014," the DoPT order said.
MODI TO WEILD BROOM
It's been a clean-up week in central government offices with cobwebs being cleaned up, corridor clutter removed, old furniture discarded or overhauled, and office environs spruced up, tidied and polished like never before.
Modi will now symbolically wield a broom and reach out to all Indians to make cleanliness a mass movement by launching the Swatchh Bharat Abhiyan or Clean India Mission.
Its launch Oct 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, has a lot of significance as Father of the Nation had a penchant for cleanliness in his personal habits and sought to promote it in his environs in every way.
Modi intends to involve every citizen in the task of cleanliness.
India fares poorly in access to toilets, especially in its semi-urban and rural areas, while its urban areas face problems related to hygiene and poor sanitation standards. Garbage disposal and hygiene standards in many commercial establishments leave much to be desired.
According to Census 2011, only 32.70 per cent of rural households had access to toilets.
According to a UN report released this year, India continues to have the largest number of people in the world defecating in the open.
Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh Sanitation and Social Reform Movement, said Indians were clean as individuals but had "nasty habits" as a community in matters of sanitation.
"People spit betel juice, throw waste on roads, women at times throw household waste near their homes, shopkeepers dump garbage on roads after closing their establishments," says Pathak.
"The responsibility of cleaning is only with the municipal staff," he told IANS recently. "Naturally, there will be dirt and squalor."
Most people feel that since Modi was giving a personal push to sanitation, it would have an impact.
Apart from steps to end open defecation, the Modi government has to initiate measures towards effective solid waste management, bring about a behavioural change in people regarding sanitary practices and improve health parameters.
States too are deciding their programmes for Oct 2.
Kerala Minister for Municipalities Manjalamkuzhi Ali said the state will launch a campaign Oct 2 to collect plastic. "We expect to get about 1,000 tonnes of plastic and it would be sent to plastic processing factories."
Modi has made "Clean India" a top priority - speaking about it at all his major speeches, including his Independence Day address.
He has said that a "clean India" will be the best tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary in 2019.
Modi will visit Rajghat - the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi - Oct 2 to pay his respects and later visit a Dalit colony. He would visit India Gate and launch the nationwide mission.
In his message to coincide with the launch of cleanliness campaign week Sep 25, Modi urged each citizen to devote at least 100 hours a year (two hours every week) towards cleanliness.
"On Oct 2, I myself will set out with a broom and contribute towards this pious task," Modi said.
He appealed to political and religious leaders, mayors, sarpanches and captains of industry to wholeheartedly engage in the task of cleaning up homes, work places, villages, cities and surroundings.
The ministry of drinking water and sanitation sought the participation of states in the Swatchh Bharat campaign.
The decision to launch the mission Oct 2 may have caused some heartburn as government servants would be expected in their offices on a public holiday to take a cleanliness pledge.
For students, required to come to schools, Gandhi Jayanti will not be a holiday they are used to.
The Delhi government has asked all government and government-aided schools to function for two hours Oct 2 to ensure active participation by students in the launch of mission.
Various government departments and institutions such as Delhi Metro have initiated steps to improve sanitation as part of cleanliness campaign. The central government is observing cleanliness campaign week Sep 25-Oct 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment