Swachh Bharat launch today

Prez appeals to make cleanliness a national passion

• Launch coincides with Bapuji’s birth anniversary
• With a broom in hand, PM will lead from the front

New Delhi: After rousing the nation on the need for a cleanliness drive from the ramparts of the Red Fort and echoing it in the United National General Assembly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi who had a penchant for cleanliness, sanitation and hygiene.

Modi will symbolically wield a broom and launch the drive from Boat Club area on Rajpath in New Delhi on Thursday morning. A road walkathon will be flagged off. Rajpath will be closed from 5 am till noon the day. Thousands of school children, college and university students, officials, diplomats, expats and corporate houses are expected to take part in the programme.

Modi will administer Cleanliness Pledge on the occasion, and take part in the walkathon. He intends to involve every citizen in the task of cleanliness. On September 24, the Union Cabinet had given nod to the 5-year-long mission. The total expected cost of the programme is Rs 62,009 crore, out of which the proposed central assistance will be of Rs 14,623 crore. The Programme would cover 1.04 crore households, provide 2.5 lakh seats of community toilets, 2.6 lakh seats of public toilets and solid waste management facility for all towns.

Already, Central Ministers have fanned out, participating in the ongoing week-long programme taken by various government departments.

It's been a clean-up week in central government offices with cobwebs being cleaned up, corridor clutter removed, old furniture discarded or overhauled, and office environs spruced up, tidied and polished like never before. According to Census 2011, only 32.70 per cent of rural households had access to toilets.

On the eve of the launch, HRD Minister Smriti Irani released a handbook on 'Swachh Bharat-Swachh Vidyalaya' capturing several good practices followed in many states to keep school premises neat and tidy.

President Pranab Mukherjee urged countrymen to turn cleanliness into a national passion and ensure that every nook and cranny of the country is kept clean. In his message, the President said, "The birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of Nation, is an occasion for all of us to rededicate ourselves to Bapuji's ideals of truth, non-violence and all-round development."

"Gandhiji believed that cleanliness is next only to Godliness. Let us pledge this day to convert cleanliness into a national passion. Every road, every path, every office, every home, every hut, every stream and every particle in the air around us can and must be kept clean," he said. "I also call upon everyone to work hard to achieve the goal of toilets in every home by 2019 – the 150th anniversary of Gandhiji's birth," the President added.