Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches drive to rid India of garbage

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 8

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday gave a call for a week-long campaign against uncleanliness, starting from today till Independence Day.

In his speech after inaugurating the Rashtriya Swachhta Kendra (RSK), Modi said that a call for Quit India agitation was made by Mahatma Gandhi against the British imperialism this day in 1942.

“Let us observe a week-long ‘Uncleanliness, Out from India’ campaign in commemoration of the attainment of Swaraj following the Quit India campaign,” he said.

The RSK, set up near Rajghat here, is an an interactive experience centre on Swachh Bharat Mission. Its purpose is to provide knowledge on the success and journey of the mission which achieved the goal to make India open defecation free (ODF). Modi asked the district authorities concerned to repair the community toilets in their areas, among others, during the proposed week-long campaign.

He said the country’s six year-long Swachh Bharat Mission had proved to be pragmatic as it has helped fight Covid. “Imagine the spread of Covid in the country had the situation remained the same like pre-2014,” Modi said, adding that physical distancing, among others, would have been difficult to maintain in the absence of toilets at home.

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