Centre is targeting timebound & targeted transformation of around two lakhs very difficult and dirty spots during the ‘Swabhav Swachhata Sanskaar Swachhata (4S)’ 2024 campaign, theme of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) for this year. These Cleanliness Target Units (CTUs) is the key highlight of this year campaign and involves identification of CTUs and mapping through a portal. This was announced by Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Manohar Lal and Union Minister for Jal Shakti, C R Patil at the curtain raiser event of the campaign, held at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan in New Delhi on Friday.
The Ministers informed that Central PSUs, Industry partners and NGOs are being encouraged to adopt CTUs. The campaign includes mega cleanliness drives at various sites like tourist locations, public buildings, commercial areas, community toilets, public toilets, water bodies, zoos, sanctuaries through shramdaan & collective action.
All Central Ministries and States are planning various citizen engagement activities. The campaign is set to rollout from 17th Sept and will culminate on October 2, birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Manohar Lal, in his address, said that the campaign, this year, takes big leap from ‘Cleanliness is Service’ to ‘Cleanliness as Swabhav & Sanskaar’ of each individual of the society. He said that being the world’s largest Jan Andolan, this campaign is just a medium to put forward the whole of society and whole of government front to set an example at the global level altogether.
The Minister informed that there are approximately 2,300 dumpsites in urban areas with 22 Crore Metric Tons of waste out of which 427 Crore dumpsites with 9 Crore metric tons of waste has been completely remediated, and land reclaimed is 4,500 acres. He said that the Mission aims at making the shift from door to door to collection to 100% processing.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister for Jal Shakti, C R Patil said that over 93 percent women in the country have access to toilets and as per recent WHO report, the mission has reduced infant mortality by around three lakhs during first five years on the mission. Shri Patil said that in 2014, Swachh Bharat Mission announced from the ramparts of Red Fort in Delhi by PM Narendra Modi, has become a Jan Andolan for behaviour change and is now globally identified as a powerful intervention for infant mortality, disease reduction, and improved livelihood opportunities.
MoS, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu alongside senior officials from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Rural development, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and state governments were present during the event.
