As the nation gears up to participate in the massive ‘Swachh Bharat’ Mission to be launched from next month, the Centre on Thursday said it would spend Rs2 lakh crore for the next five years to make India India open defecation free by October 2019, coinciding with the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
While the Union Urban Development Ministry will allocate Rs62,000 crore for cleaning towns across the country, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation will spend Rs1 lakh 34 thousand crores for the programme to be kicked off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2.
Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said this after unveiling the logo for the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ (Clean India Mission), along with Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Nitin Gadkari in the capital.
Though many Ministries are yet to come out with their plans for the campaign, those like HRD, Tourism and Culture and Railways on Thursday announced their programmes to be undertaken for the success of the mission.
Railways Minister Sadananda Gowda has decided to make the most of the Mission by involving his fellow MPs in leading the campaign to spruce up the railways premises and properties.
“At the Union Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, I also requested the Ministers to visit one of the railway stations in their constituency, and all of my cabinet colleagues have agreed to participate and lead the campaign on October 2,” he said.
He said that a sustainable action has been proposed to begin from October 2 and continue till 2019. Primarily, the focus should be on clean and hygienic toilets and, in particular, those located at railway stations. Under this mission, it shall be ensured that stations, tracks, colonies and offices were maintained in a clean and hygienic conditions, he said, adding 50 major toilets have been identified to be outsourced for cleanliness.
Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani kicked off the campaign about cleanliness at a Kendriya Vidyalaya School where she joined the students and teachers in cleaning the campus. Irani, used broom and shovel to clean the ground, and called up all to become part of the mission and put their best effort for its success.
The campaign, which aims to motivate the students and make them realise that hygienic way of living was the best way to lead to a fully satisfying life, will go on till October 31 in the schools, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) said in a statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also slated to release a booklet on sanitation on October 2, when he launches the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’, promoting behavioural changes in children. An important component of the mission is the construction of toilets in schools and in seven States, which account for 80 per cent of the schools without toilets, have been asked to start building toilets from October 2.
The State Governments would initiate construction of toilets in 25,000 schools on October 2, under the ‘Sarva Siksha Abhiyan’ and ‘Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan programme, officials in the HRD Ministry said.
States would also be advised to periodically monitor the functionality of toilets and take up repair and maintenance work, they said.
Tourism and Culture Minister Shripad Naik launched the cleanliness drive on Thursday from the Red Fort while Kalraj Mishra, the Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, launched the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ by cleaning the floor of a section and arranging files in another thereby setting the tone for the Mission.
Senior officials of the Ministry of Defence launched a special cleaning drive to encourage all fellow employees to ensure highest degree of cleanliness and hygiene at workplace. Officers upto the level of Deputy Secretary/Directors started the cleanliness campaign with brooms and dusters in their hands cleaning corridors and rooms of Sena Bhawan while others were also seen cleaning the office premises and tables etc. with the help of different cleaning agents.