Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or the Clean India Campaign, is a national mission initiated by the government of India in 2014 for maintaining a clean and healthy India. The mission was instigated on the auspicious occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, which marks the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation. It is a restructured version of the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan launched in 2009 that failed to achieve its intended targets.

Cleanliness and Hygiene are not only for our personal belongings or our own homes, we need to make sure to keep our surroundings clean wherever we go. Clean India Mission focuses on the eradication of open defecation all over the country and efforts have been made for the same since its commencement in 2nd October 2014. As per the statistics published by the Government of India on Swachh Bharat Mission more than 10 crore toilets have been built during the mission across the country. 36 Indian states have been declared defecation free and hence the mission has largely improved the lifestyle of a common Indian man.

This drive was formulated to cover all the cities and towns of India to make them clean. This campaign is administered by the Indian government and was introduced by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

The slogan of the SBM is "Ek kadam swachhata ki aur".

Phase 1 of the Swachh Bharat Mission lasted till October 2019. Phase 2 is being implemented between 2020–21 and 2024–25 to help cement the work of Phase 1. 

Phase - 1

“A clean India would be the best tribute India could pay to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150 birth anniversary in 2019,” said Shri Narendra Modi as he launched the Swachh Bharat Mission at Rajpath in New Delhi. On 2nd October 2014, Swachh Bharat Mission was launched throughout length and breadth of the country as a national movement. The campaign aims to achieve the vision of a ‘Clean India’ by 2nd October 2019.

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is the most significant cleanliness campaign by the Government of India. Shri Narendra Modi led a cleanliness pledge at India Gate, which about thirty lakh government employees across the country joined. He also flagged off a walkathon at Rajpath and surprised people by joining in not just for a token few steps, but marching with the participants for a long way.

While leading the mass movement for cleanliness, the Prime Minister exhorted people to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a clean and hygienic India. Shri Narendra Modi himself initiated the cleanliness drive at Mandir Marg Police Station. Picking up the broom to clean the dirt, making Swachh Bharat Abhiyan a mass movement across the nation, the Prime Minister said people should neither litter, nor let others litter. He gave the mantra of ‘Na gandagi karenge, Na karne denge.’ Shri Narendra Modi also invited nine people to join the cleanliness drive and requested each of them to draw nine more into the initiative.

Phase - 2

The second phase of the SBM, announced in the Union Budget, is responsible for sewage management in all cities that have less than 1 lakh population. a major focus is the segregation of waste at the source.

“We are not even letting the urban local bodies bring in segregation waste technology. It is a regressive step. We need to segregate at the home-level. It will also reduce the cost,” a senior official said.

Phase 1 of the SBM was a major success, and the phase 2 has so far being going well too! 

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has become a ‘Jan Andolan’ receiving tremendous support from the people. Citizens too have turned out in large numbers and pledged for a neat and cleaner India. Taking the broom to sweep the streets, cleaning up the garbage, focussing on sanitation and maintaining a hygienic environment have become a practice after the launch of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. People have started to take part and are helping spread the message of ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness.’

References:

https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/major_initiatives/swachh-bharat-abhiyan/

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/phase-2-of-swachh-bharat-mission-to-focus-on-waste-segregation-at-source-7210207/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swachh_Bharat_Mission