Hours after flying home from Washington, the energetic premier rolled up his sleeves and picked up a brush to launch a 'Clean India' campaign on a public holiday which celebrates independence icon Mahatma Gandhi's life.
"Gandhi gave us the slogan: 'Quit India' and people came together to win our country's freedom (from British colonial rule)... but his other dream of 'Clean India' is still incomplete," Modi said in a televised address.
The 64-year-old, who came to power in May, has made public health one of the main priorities of his new administration and has already promised to ensure all schools have separate toilets for girls and boys.
A new report by the UN children's fund UNICEF estimates that almost 594 million -- or nearly 50 per cent of India's population -- defecate in the open, massively increasing the risk of disease in densely-populated areas.
Modi said that the responsibility for public cleanliness did not rest solely with sanitation workers but required a change of mindset in a country which recently celebrated a successful space mission to Mars.
"It ('Clean India') can be achieved, it can happen. If we can reach Mars, then why can't we clean our neighbourhoods?"he added.
As part of the campaign launch, ministers and civil servants were expected to take part in a mass clean-up on Thursday of government buildings, many of which stink of stale urine and are littered with rubbish.
The premier also tweeted a picture of himself captioned 'Why Clean India.'
https://twitter.com/narendramodi
COMMENTS (60)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
@Satish Chandra:
Hey Buddy - must be some really potent stuff that you are taking. Want to share the source? ET - is this how your moderation works? Pretty one sided, isn't it?
From communal cleansing to street cleaning. Hope he sticks to the latter for good.
Dipak@Fatima: Billy Boy does not even know what broom is.
@Satish Chandra: My friend, u need professional help. Your neuronal circuits are on over-drive. No coherence, just once and static. A little lithium will help.
@Aseem:
You have said it all! It is good that Mr Modi is going to basics- the motherhood and it will take time , more than one generation to improve the life style of its people especially in rural areas. India needs a cultural revolution though innovations and creativity and not by copying other Nations.most of whom are struggling with similar setbacks in hygene for various reasons.
Rex Minor
@MJ:
You may be quite right. While Modi himself is very dedicated to this cause, I am sure the coterie and the bureaucrats that take orders are all doing lip service. However, I am hopeful that Modi will persist with his message and make this program stick and become a sustaining movement. Every major tranformative social and political change in history has been spearheaded by a dedicated powerful leader who set personal examples.
@WB Leave your anti-Modi bias for a moment. What Modi is doing is beyond politics. You can find even many Pakistanis appreciating Modi's initiatives leaving aside their bias against Modi or India. The best way rahul-sonia can serve india is by opening a dominos pizza.
Good for him and good for India. Meanwhile, we're stuck with an incompetent PM here, who can't even make a public appearance, let alone do something good for them. Shame, really.
This is just politics and rhetoric. Until we see comprehensive policies to ensure cleanliness in India and serious and honest enforcement of those policies not much will change. Public awareness also has to be increased. In Karachi same drama was played out by Altaf Hussain of MQM when him and his workers used brooms to clean the streets of Karachi. Once their backs were slapped in appreciation and the pictures and news articles were done circulating, everything went back to normal. It will be interesting to see if three years from now Modi continues this campaign and goes out and cleans an area at a time personally or directs his ministers to do so.
@Naresh:
"First Decade of the Early Nineteenth Century AD wherein the “Sultan”, in One Campaign, Slaughtered over 100,000 Indians – mainly Hindus – and converted over 400,000 Indians mainly Hindus."
LOL! As if Hindu kings didn't slaughtered opponent Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains in droves. Or converted Buddhists and Jains (who used to be 60% and 20% respectively of the sub-continent's population during their peaks, and are now merely 0.3% and 0.1%) to Hinduism by throwing the resisting into boiling oil. Why start from the first decade of eighth century? Why not to start from a little earlier when the Hindus came to the sub-continent from North West. Killed or pushed to the South most of the local population, and converted them to Hinduism.
ET Mods-- Please alllow response to someone who has written to me.
@Bewildered: "@gp65:
“As for your ‘lol’, he who laughs last, laughs best.”
Sorry if your feelings are hurt. Last time, as I remember, you and other Indian commentators argued that it was the Indian peoples priorities, not the lack of resources that they don’t build toilets in their homes. The reason you guys mentioned was that people there do not like to have filth in their homes, and that is why they defecate in the open (prefer to spread filth outside instead). "
I have never commented and said that it was Indian people's priorities rather than lack of resources which was a reason for building toilets in their homes. India has 1.2 billion people. Opinion of one Indian is an opinion of that Indian not all Indians - except where yuo can judge either through elections or say Bollywood movie where you can judge by ticket sales to understand what many Indians feel.
It is true that in many Indian homes traditionally toilets would be in the aangan and not within the home per se because in those days when internal plumbing did not considered, having a toilet next to kitchen for instance was thought to be unhyeginic or having next to pooja room was considered unclean. But not having a toilet at all - is a completely different thing. Especially not having functional toilets in school for example. That was a resource issue and resources are now being allocated. You may find that the issue of proper infrastructure in schools include searate girls toilet is shared in Pakistan also - not inyour elite schools but rural schools in SInd, KPK, Balochistan and southern Punjab. Indians have made this an issue. Pakistan has not though even in Pakistan 44% people do not have access to toilets - though the number is smaller than India 44% is not small by any means.
@WB: You are right, why don't you write a letter to our Prime Minister Modi, it will be more helpful.
@Satish Chandra: You stated India’s slavery is the result of Indians killed by the tens of millions and its centers of learning destroyed. India has to kill Americans by the hundreds of millions and destroy Harvard, Yale and all American centers of learning and research. . The Slaughter of Indians in General and Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs in Particular, as well as its centers of Learning were INITIATED in the First Decade of the Early Eighth Century AD! It continued ON AT LEAST up to the First Decade of the Early Nineteenth Century AD wherein the "Sultan", in One Campaign, Slaughtered over 100,000 Indians - mainly Hindus - and converted over 400,000 Indians mainly Hindus. For over a Thousand Years Slaughter, Conversion, Destruction of Temples as also Centers of Learning - these Learning Centers had "Small Temples-Shrines" which led the Marauders to DESTROY them due to the IDOLS being worshiped therein! Cheers
@Naresh: Whats au contraire in this, you arealso saying that they were outcastes, whatever be the reasons. Everybody plays his role in society but jut because one is doing a menial but important necessary job, he be made untouchable. This was the most violent thing in human history and unfortuntely is still practiced in some areas of our country.
@Aseem: Till late 1980s Surat-City in Gujarat used to be the dirtiest possible city you could think of. Filthiest in India. In 1994 when Chhabildas Mehta of Congress was CM there was a panic situation with fears of outbreak of plague. 50 Surtis died & there was mass migration. Mehta selected his best men to handle the epidemic. Two IAS officers named SV Rao & L.Jagdeesan-pretty much began what Modi has begun today. The Herculean effort of cleaning Surti stables eventually paid off. Their work is a saga in itself. Both Officers appealed to the Pride of the Surtis while implementing their innovative ideas. Today the city of 3 millions that boasts of 45-50% of world diamond trade is one of the cleanest cities of India and an example emulated by other cities of Gujarat. Everything is possible with devoted officers, pride of citizens & sustained will of politicians.
@Aseem: @Rex Minor: Modi is not a dalit. He belongs to business community which was at number 3 in hindu 4 divisions of Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaish and Shudra. Shudras were considered dalits and outcaste. . Au contrair, mon ami. Shudras are Artisans and Labourers. Those considered "Malichha" - possibly due to parting Beef or possibly not following the "LAWS OF SOCIETY - were ostracized which led them to being treated as outcasts. It is indeed an ancient malady which by the Grace of God is slowly going "out of fashion", surely in the Large Cities but I am sure will be eradicated in due course NOT BY LAW ONLY but surely by EDUCATION. I Refer you to the following from the ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA . http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/324024/Kshatriya
The earliest Vedic texts listed the Kshatriya (holders of kshatra, or authority) as first in rank, then the Brahmans (priests and teachers of law), next the Vaishya (merchant-traders), and finally the Sudra (artisans and labourers). . My Comments : Of course with the passing of time the Brahmans inter-changed their "Places in the Caste Order" with the Kshatriya but that is another story! . Cheers
@gp65:
"As for your ‘lol’, he who laughs last, laughs best."
Sorry if your feelings are hurt. Last time, as I remember, you and other Indian commentators argued that it was the Indian peoples priorities, not the lack of resources that they don't build toilets in their homes. The reason you guys mentioned was that people there do not like to have filth in their homes, and that is why they defecate in the open (prefer to spread filth outside instead). On the same analogy, one can safely assume that the people also throw the garbage outside to keep their own homes clean, but making the streets and public places dirty. As it is apparent from your own arguments that the basic fault lies either in their education/thinking or in their nature. However, keeping in mind the high literacy rates and high educational standards in India (again your own claims), perhaps the fault most likely lies in the Indians nature. This was the exact context of my comment because I don't think people can be made to go against their natures easily, especially by means of once in a time symbolic acts, though there are certainly ways to get the things done. This act of wielding broom himself as a main strategy for turning the public attitudes is a good reflection on how far Modi's mental abilities/imagination stretch. By the way, who would determine when "a laugh" is "the last laugh"?
@Rex Minor: There is no govt stand of hygiene standard. I assume you are mentioning about an officer who was part of organizing Common Wealth games in Delhi. It wa his personal opinion and not govt stand. Mayawati of BSP has already made it clear that more toilets are required than temples and her party had pledged to build a toilet in place of Babri Masjid. Its sickening to link this topic with religion. I have visited a few countries outside South Asia and find that South Asian cities are filthiest in the world. India, Nepal, Srilanka, Bangladesh are all alike while standards of hygiene are simply superlative in UAE and Singapore. Europe and Americas are far superior anyways. and UAE is a muslim country for your information. I find certain habits of Indians or South Asians very sickening like littering around, spitting, throwing things around and not using dust bins in public places.
@Aseem: The change one notices is that the previous Government refused to accept foreign criticism on unclean India, saying that this is Indian standard. He has promised more toilets in place of more temples. But how is he going to alter the hindutwa culture which creates and adds to hygenic concerns. A mussalman is required to pray five times a day solely for cleanliness and while they introduced higher hygenic standards in the European continent, they lax today in muslim countries.
Rex Minor
Mother-Chods like Modi are always defaming India, such as through the Swachha Bharat campaign, as if the Indians don’t know the importance of cleanliness and need the help of Obama and company to learn it. This is what I wrote a few months ago: “(NOV 20 ‘13) The headlines scream “Open Defecation” by the majority of Indians on World Toilet Day. Going to the fields is the most environmentally friendly way to defecate. Lake Ontario which supplies Toronto’s drinking water is heavily polluted from fecal bacteria from flush toilets whose health effects are ignored. Cleanliness procedures of Indians from Yoga to daily life -- Indians expressed shock that the University of Chicago president’s wife put a spoon which she had just put in her mouth to taste a dish she was preparing back in the pot to stir it and I replied “That’s why they are called dirty Jews” -- are the most stringent in the world. The environmental and health effects -- from water requirements to pollution of water bodies -- of flush toilets on India will be devastating. Without first establishing dominance via emplaced nuclear warheads (below), snatching entire continents from the white man after killing the existing population, India cannot be dominant in health and sanitation.”
India’s slavery is the result of Indians killed by the tens of millions and its centers of learning destroyed. India has to kill Americans by the hundreds of millions and destroy Harvard, Yale and all American centers of learning and research. All IAS and IFS people by training work for the CIA and should be replaced by RSS cadres.
""India's greatest scientist and greatest living Indian publicly tortured in Harvard seminar, systematically and totally starved for up to 3 weeks at a time, made semi-starved and homeless and even blind for years, kept under 24-hour audio and video surveillance as well as surveillance of [and interference with] communications and electrical typewriter and computer use, document creation and photocopying, etc., by satellite for more than past 3 decades, systematically harassed and in poverty and neutralised and robbed of his work at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars per year, robbed of crores in his money and property in India by C.I.A.-RAW, forced back into exile in the U.S., all with full cooperation and participation of India's RAW and India's C.I.A.-RAW-controlled prime ministers, politicians and media -- to keep India poor, weak and enslaved" and how this means the nuclear destruction of New Delhi and then the coast-to-coast destruction of the U.S.; see my blog titled 'Nuclear Supremacy For India Over U.S.' which can be found by a Yahoo/Google search with the title; my biography can be found in Marquis' Who's Who in the World, 2014 and earlier editions." In the past few years I have had India's nuclear forces emplace India's nuclear warheads in Washington, New York and other U.S. cities, ready to be exploded. Simultaneously destroying Washington, New York and New Delhi (RAW headquarters, South Block and North Block) with a warning that additional U.S. cities will be similarly destroyed, with nuclear warheads already emplaced in them, if there is any retaliation or sign of retaliation, will immediately make India the supreme military and economic power in the world even before implementing my proposal about money which can make India’s economy grow 30% per year or more.
In a letter dated July 27, 1982 to Indira Gandhi as prime minister I referred to an act, by American Jews, that was “the equivalent of an annihilatory nuclear first strike on India”. In her reply dated July 29, 1982 she wrote “Dear Mr. Chandra, I have received your letter dated July 27, 1982 and am passing it on to my Principal Secretary to deal with it. Sincerely, Indira Gandhi”. In December, 1982 I wrote to her “There was sudden, terminal, overwhelming violence against me during a seminar at Harvard University and rather similar occurrences earlier… India can expect sudden, annihilatory violence … with nuclear weapons … against its population … unless it can mount a decisively superior force to stop it”. Following my advice, India’s strategic program, including the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme and the Centre for Advanced Technology, was started to give India victory in a nuclear war with the United States and because of my influence on her, Indira Gandhi as prime minister was assassinated by CIA-RAW and later when Rajiv Gandhi realized the truth of what I had written to her after the American invasion of Iraq which was the first Gulf War, he was also assassinated by CIA-RAW. In the past few years, I have had India’s nuclear forces emplace nuclear warheads in Washington, New York and other U.S. cities and India is now in a position to destroy the United States without being destroyed. In fact, India is in a position now to destroy the United States without itself suffering a single casualty by triggering its nuclear warheads emplaced in Washington and New York with a warning that additional U.S. cities will be similarly destroyed if there is any retaliation or sign of retaliation. Goonda Modi and his Cabinet are determined to keep India in slavery. This will not be allowed.
An eBook on the above can be found on Amazon by searching for “Death of America by Satish Chandra”.
what kinda rut of a discussion is this ,slap fines to reduce the garbage ???....there is an industry based on this very garbage you are talking about, both hyderabad (MCH),bagalore(BDA) run recycling plants,where they separate plastic, iron ore etc and they hold an auction to sell it ...some places in hyderabad they burn the garbage to produce electricity...we need more such plants ,better disposal mechanisms...and our villages are much better than our cities,take mumbai it looks like animals living out there.
Dont forger your soilders cleaned their portion of place on the same day by seeing indian soilders work oj cleanng reported in local news paper
@WB: This are some of very important points what you have made here, hope Modi ji would have this all in his mind too as a grand road map and is waiting to launch that all one by one. He is doing almost every week something very uncommon and necessary new tasks for improving India. It seems he is a non stop.
the leader we needed for long time now we've got that's why i love him I voted first time for good one
Saad A Shah, some people just don't get it. They are drowning themselves in technical aspects before understanding the role of the symbolic. They have the mindset of technicians, not of national leaders.
@Rex Minor: gosh so much of caste mentality. Gross
@Salim Alvi: @Nayak: @Vikram:
I have already sent my message to Modi at his website. Let me see if anything comes out of it.
@Bewildered: this is so unfortunate that people make fun of such symbolic activity,
@Ishan:
Indeed he is undoubtedly well composed and better PM of India. I wish Indian people deserve to their true potential.
@Rex Minor: Modi is not a dalit. He belongs to business community which was at number 3 in hindu 4 divisions of Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaish and Shudra. Shudras were considered dalits and outcaste. Modi belonging to business community sold or served tea at his father's tea stall on a railway station. Today getting a license to sell tea at railway stations is a very lucrative business. However, what he brings with him is the value that he is not ashamed of doing thingson his own. He has sold tea and he can pick up a broom to clean the street. I dont agree much with politicians weilding brooms infront of TV camera but Modi has brought to fore a very important point for Indians and also an agenda for development. If people simply start using dustbins and clean their own surroundings, i would say the purpose is served.
@WB: Every Indian has a responsibility to do what he/she can do to make India a better place in all respects. Why can't every college student mentor one young school student who needs help with studying? There is nothing wrong with telling truth in Dawn but also share it with Modi's office. Why can't we use media to educate kids about cleanliness, environment etc using cartoons? Lobby government to make laws to protect environment.
while indian leaders and people are making things better our people and leaders are attending non stop election campaign even after having lost elections, oh wait they had won and realized it a year later that they had not lost
@Indian:
I have no anti Modi agenda. I want him succeed and not fail Indians.
And please don't call anyone that. One sounds like a conspiracy theorist and a fear-monger.
But you are missing my point. Cleanliness is not just a requirement in India. It has become a question of our survival.
You see, garbage from 1.2 billion people (a majority of them are illiterate or unaware) is unmanageable. And managing that should not become our priority or we should not look at managing garbage as a solution.
Most importantly, problem with Indians is we abuse anything that comes free.
This is why I say, most Indian leaders lack vision, not just Modi.
The only solution to our problem is bans and restrictions. And we have the example of Kerala. We don't have to learn from anywhere else.
You can post ur suggestions to Modi in mygov.in
Why isn't ET carrying PM Modi weilding the broom?
http://www.ndtv.com/news/images/storypage/PMModibroompolicestation6502Oct14PTI.jpg
But, it'll have ghastly pictures of Kashmiris dying due to a natural disaster and blame it on the Indian Govt.
This is pure propaganda.
Whenever I travel to and from the US, I am down for 3 days with Jet Lag.
In the past week, Modi has met world leaders, spoke to the Indian community in NY, met with top 5 Company CEOs, he travels to India on Oct 1 and on Oct 2, he is launching a campaign which might revolutionize the way Indians think about their country and their leaders.
All this on a 9 day fast.
Magnificent!
@Fatima: "Appreciated step. PML-N and PPP leaders will die before holding a broom because it violates their VIP culture values."
Modi has zero interest in status. Historically, when someone moves to Race Course Road - the place where Indian PM lives, they go for some upgrades in decor, paintings etc. Our last PM (who was also frugal - spent a little over a crore on that - compared to Yusuf Raza Gilani wo spent over 25 crore rennovating his personal home which he designated as his second office). Modi spent nothing on such things though he spent 70 lakh to make the home high tech so he could also work from home after a full day at office. He continues to use the 5 year old BMW that Manmohan Singh had bought. DId not ask for a new car. His mother who lives with her brother in a 2 bed room flat still travels in an auto rickshaw.
@Salim Alvi:
Mygov.nic.in is the place to go to give suggestions.
@Parvez: Yes he does lead by example. He has told his bureacrats and ministers that they all must work hard to remove the blot of hunger and poverty from India in the next 10 years. He has said " If you work 12hours, I will work 13. If you work 13 hours, I will work 14." He returned from a hectic trip to US at 11:00 pm in the night on October 1 during which he was fasting all throughout and did not eat anything (only drinking lemon water). No jet lag for him though. He was busy sweeping in the morning of October 2.
Oh and the hotel he stayed in New York only cost $1100 per night as opposed to the $8000 hotel that Sharif stayed in.
@WB: I said social awareness and building infrastructure should go hand in hand. In your earlier post you had said that the problem wasn't garbage management but lack of social awareness. When I respond to that you turn around and claim that social awareness is not important. Amazing.
And what did the Indian folks expect from a Dalit- low caste Chaiwala; reforms in education, judiciary, colonial army or law and order? No sir!! He will make the Brahmans do what the untouchables do. He could have acted like a statesman leader and started a " Keep India clean" campaign and not cleaning toilets which are not too many around. lt is just the beginning, he has too many other goodies in the black box! No offence is meant fellows, just an academic exercise to speculate about this bachelor.
Rex Minor
WB,
You are well intention-ed and knowledgeable. Why don't you give your valuable suggestions directly to Modi. There are many avenues which you can find as well as other readers here can give. Modi needs to ban plastic not just for pollution control but also to reduce the dependence on gulf oil. We also need to use local products as much as possible so packaging is not needed.
Modi is doing what Mahatma Gandhi did while he was in South Africa. He made even his wife clean people's toilets. A good endeavour. Well done Mr Modi.
Symbolic it may be.......but it says that I'll lead by example.....and that should be appreciated.
@WB: You clearly have an anti-Modi agenda which is driving your post rather than the issues at hand.
Modi is simply trying to make Cleanliness a mass movement and telling people that managing waste is a PERSONAl RESPONSIBILITY. If each person took care of their own waste, then it would be far easier to attain cleanliness in public places as most of the filth in such place is because of bad behavior of the people.
As per as disposal of waste is concerned, he is already started a program of solid waste management in cities using new technologies from places like Japan and Singapore.
Appreciated step. PML-N and PPP leaders will die before holding a broom because it violates their VIP culture values.
@chai:
I don't know what ET found offensive in my comment that it removed my previous comment.
But let me answer you.
You have absolutely no idea about the difference between garbage displacement and garbage management.
In Gujrat, cities are relatively clean because they're been dumped in landfills at the expense of some one else's health.
Why don't you make a trip of these landfills and then come back to tell me that I'm blind.
@Rehan:
Kerala is reasonably clean, because of the policies.
You should take a dip in Adyar river and take a trip to Bangalore's streets.
In fact, Bangalore is the garbage capital of the country.
Just go to Charminar and Old Hyderabad and Indiramma Nagar.
These are just tips of the iceberg. I have lived in all three cities. So, don't tell me South is clean.
Let me tell you, the entire country is utterly filthy. Even the famous Dal lake is a garbage dump today. The famous Ooty lake looks like a toilet.
And besides, by taking garbage from one city and dumping in a landfill is not garbage management.
That's garbage displacement. It will come biting our backside tomorrow.
"We need road vacums, dust suckers, not brooms to clean vast roads and maintain it daily."
This is our problem. Sorry, you have absolutely no understanding of our problem.
Our solution is not garbage management. Because we simply cannot manage waste. We don't have space, we don't have money, we don't have technology.
Our solution, both long term and short term is strict bans and implementation of rules.
If I want to watch drama I'll switch to Ekta Kapoor. I expect vision from Modi, not drama.
We don't want to see the truth. We want to believe in the nonsense shining india.
I've said this many times before, India is stinking. Both literally and figuratively and philosophically.
If you don't like the truth, make it a point to not read my comments from here on.
Because I'll be speaking more and more harsh truths that both Pakistanis and Indians alike will not like. And yes, I don't believe in the Sanskrit saying that don't speak inconvenient truth.
@Bewildered: "LOL. And after 1000 years later, the Indian PM would be launching the same “Cleaning” campaign on Mars as well."
You may not be aware but 44% of Pakistanis too are without access to toilets - lower percentage than India for sure but still a big enough problem to which your leaders are paying no attention and neither is your media. Hence, most well of Pakistanis are unaware of this stark reality of their country and taunt India.
Anyway we will see what will happen in just 10 years forget 1000. 20 years back Pakistan had higher per capita GDP than India no more. 15 years back it had better airports and electricity, no more.10 years back it had better roads , no more. 5 years back India had more total polio cases than Pakistan now India is polio free. In the meantime India has extended its leads in areas of education, railways, ports, infant mortality and of course democracy permeated to the local level besides other things. As for your 'lol', he who laughs last, laughs best.
@Rakib: Your comment too is beyond politics. Bravo.
@WB: "India’s filth is due to idiotic policies and utter lack of education to induce social awareness and social responsibility."
So how better to induce social responsibility than the Prime Minister himself leading the way and involving people influencers from across theboard be it Salman Kham Priyanka Chopra, Amir Khan or Sachin Tendulkar or Baba Ramdev? Both social awareness and publich infrastructure need to be improved hand in hand.
@ikbal Buland: that too when he's on fast. @ wb Chandigarh, Kerala and most South States, North east and union territories are clean and green. It's the Mumbai-up-Bihar belt etc. And some parts of Delhi that needs some solutions. You are right on few points. We need road vacums, dust suckers, not brooms to clean vast roads and maintain it daily. Put hefty fines like 20,000 or community service, strict implementation of law, and banning of plastics and anti environment materials and complain mechanism where we can complain if someone's violating it. CCTV cameras because you won't believe in Mumbai our gvt spent 100crore on huge dust bin every corner.. The robbers steamed it and sold it in black market now only its lid is hanging in every corner without the bin. So yeah we need cctv footage to catch hold of such crooks, We can do that by logins in to mygov.in and suggest. Remember this is awareness campaign to do our bit. Modi has chalenged nine people to do it in few days I.e top Bollywood, coporates etc in their area each nominate nine themselfs on Twitter for such challenge just like ice bucket challenge Don't be negative. join in.
"If we can reach Mars, then why can’t we clean our neighbourhoods?”
LOL. And after 1000 years later, the Indian PM would be launching the same "Cleaning" campaign on Mars as well.
this is called leading by example - more leaders especially in South Asia need to do such things from the front
@WB: A person has to utterly blind to say that Modi has no vision, visit Gandhinagar once. I have travelled lengths and breadths of Gujrat and most of the villages in Gujrat are clean. States like Kerala are much better in this regard, but Modi has certainly made his mark as far as cleanliness is concerned.
Mr Modi is a very hard task master, hardest on himself. He returned to New Delhi at 11 PM on 1 Oct after a most gruelling schedule in US surviving on plain hot water for last 7 days. On 02 Oct, he was at Gandhi ji's memorial to pay his respect and kick off his most ambitious campaign 'Swachh Bharat' Clean India.He enjoys working for India's golden future without showing even a trace of fatigue or jet lag. Amazing leader with boundless energy.
@WB:
And to add to my point and to provoke my fellow Indians, and to bring the relevant topic of environment, let me add that, India's filth in general is a result of two factors:
1) Overpopulation
2) Overindulgence of the middle class.
Indian Middle class, upper middle class and the rich and the affluent are primarily responsible for total, all sorts of, environmental pollutions including noise.
As always, it's the rich that destroy the environment at every stage. Look at the world stage. USA and EU have polluted the environment more than the rest of the countries combined.
Even in India, poor take much less responsibility than the rich.
Bravo, Modi! Well done. This is the real fine thing he has launched.. This is beyond politics.
Once India is clean and with toilets for all our citizen Pakistan will find some other problem to bring up on news forums. Pakistan kept point at Indian problrms ,while india is on its way to over come such problems. 60+ years has shown the world the diffrence.
Modi is not only a political leader but a social reformer also. He is taking up many social issues one by one. Indians are responding. Today small kids were cleaning streets in every locality in Delhi. It will take time. However, chances are high that India will improve on this front sooner than later.
We are lucky to have such a prime minister, he works as much as he can. This man will probably change India. Jai Hind!