Swachh Bharat Mission is the mother of all Missions : Venkaiah Naidu
Elaborating on the features and objectives of the Mission, Naidu said, "Swachh Bharat initiative is different from others in the sense that this targets the minds of the people while others seek to meet the needs already felt in the minds of the people."
he further said, "To put it differently, while other initiatives are largely demand driven, Swachh Bharat Mission aims at creating demand for sanitary services and infrastructure. A Clean India is the most profound statement that the county can make to the world which is keenly watching us in the context of various initiatives launched during the last over one year."
The Minister said that since the launch of the Mission in October last year by the Prime Minister, people across the country and age groups have been inspired by the philosophy and objectives of the Mission and this is the major achievement of the last one year.
To further reinforce and consolidate behavioral changes, an intensive campaign has been launched on 25th of last month and will continue till March next year to propel people into action for cleanliness and intensive cleanliness drive will be taken up in 11 thematic areas, Naidu informed.
Thematic areas to be covered include : Agricultural and grain markets, Religious and tourism places, Educational institutions, Resident Welfare Associations, Under passes and fly overs, Cantonment Boards, Water bodies and recreation places, Hospitals, Old cities and Government offices.
Venkaiah Naidu informed that physical performance in respect of Mission targets in urban areas over the last one year has been encouraging. He said that based on reports received till August this year, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana have performed well in respect of construction of individual household toilets.
Under Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas, construction of 1.04 crore household toilets and 5.28 lakh community and public toilet seats besides 100% door to door collection of solid waste and its scientific disposal are envisaged at a total cost of Rs.66,009 cr.
The Ministry of Urban Development has so far released Rs.1.038. 72 cr to 30 States and Union Territories. Five UTs of A & N Islands, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshdweep besides Manipur are still to be released funds.
