Environment : 'SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAAN'

Of the numerous initiatives that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, which would give Mahatma Gandhi the gift of a clean India on his 150th birth anniversary on October 2, 2019, has the greatest potential to transform the lives of all Indians – rich and poor. 

The phrase ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’ has finally become more than just an idea.Sanitation has been the theme of virtually every government in recent times. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had launched the Central Rural Sanitation Programme in 1986 and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee the Complete Sanitation Campaign in 1999. But no previous government has shown the resolve and commitment exhibited by Modi. This time it feels real.The aim of this campaign is to make India one of the cleanest cities of the world in the next five years. The PM himself started the campaign by walking from Rajpath to Valmiki colony and cleaning a small area in the colony of sanitation workers in the company of party colleagues and officials.

Till date, sweeping streets and ending open defecation have occupied media centre stage. But equally critical to Swachh Bharat are access to piped water; well-functioning drainage, sewage and solid waste management in all cities and villages; elimination of ponds in which stagnant water collects and serves as host to bacteria and mosquitoes; instilling greater appreciation of cleanliness in all its aspects among the masses. Indeed, taking the campaign to its logical conclusion would require replacing slums with more spacious housing having piped water delivery and modern sewage facilities.

Mahatma Gandhi got it precisely right when he wrote in 1925, “I learnt 35 years ago that a lavatory must be as clean as a drawing room. I learnt this in the West. I believe that many rules about cleanliness in lavatories are observed more scrupulously in the West than in the East.” Having experienced not-so-swachh toilets as well as open defecation during childhood visits to my ancestral village and the town next door, i fully appreciate why many prefer to go for open despite access to a toilet.

As a final thought, let me state that it is of utmost importance that Modiji sustains the public awareness campaign at the high level he has begun until the objective is achieved. Through speeches and commercials on television and radio, he must continually exhort citizens to change their habits. He must also cajole state chief ministers, prominent politicians from all parties and film and sports stars to do the same.

If we wage this campaign on a war footing as we once did to eradicate polio, we can surely make the 150th birthday of the Mahatma a memorable day for every citizen of India.