By: Vatsala Bhusry, Bureau Chief-ICN Delhi
NEW DELHI: The recent blog post of Bill gates praising PM Modi on Swach Bharat Mission inspired me the to write this article. Many of us are aware about this drive and some of us from our society are taking a step forward by acting as a driving force for imparting knowledge and spreading the mission to achieve universal sanitation and equitable access to safe drinking water for all.
The Swachh Bharat mission was initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a view to create Clean India. Launched on October 2nd in 2014, Swachh Bharat Mission advised every Indian citizen to take up responsibility in keeping the country clean. The PM stated that a clean India would be the best tribute to give to the Father of our Nation on his 150th birth anniversary and that everyone should contribute their part in doing away with litter and waste by the year 2019. He asked everyone to devote a hundred hours every year, two hours a week, towards cleanliness.
For the fact that this has come in light in the international arena needs to be highlighted. Working on this mission has not only improved the health status but also made a huge social impact in our society. It bought citizens in a mass movement across different sectors, regions, religions, caste structure etc. Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. have been a great way to spread the awareness on the national mission and Prime Minister making this mission as his top priority. The health status directly impacts the nutritional status of children and water sanitation facilities for zero water or waste borne diseases. Roping in the celebrities has been one of the key changing factors for this movement.
Talking about what Bill Gates said in a blog post “Mr. Modi’s pet project has given a big push to combat one of the biggest causes of death is poor hygiene. Of the 1.7 million people worldwide, who die from unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene each year, more than 600,000 are in India”. He also added, “What I love most about Clean India is that it identified a big problem, got everyone working on it, and is using measurement to show where things need to be done differently”.
Any mission whenever is recognized at the internationally, creates a solid impact in the developmental society and more importantly can be seen as a leading example for developing countries. This particular national drive has improved the psych of the citizens on waste disposal, open defecation and importance of building toilets and keeping their surrounding clean. The drive was much needed and none of the past ruling Governments were able to focus and take this forward.
India needed a sanitation drive badly not because our health status has been in a questionable condition but also because it is counted as the basics of a civilization. Swachh Bharat Mission is one of the very few drives on cleanliness framed and is highly essential for our nation. Awareness on keeping surrounding clean and their impact on physical, mental, social and intellectual wellbeing needs to be explained at length.
Urban population of India is 377.16 million in 2011 accounting for 31% of the total population of the country and Swach Bharat Urban Mission envisages to eliminate open defecation through building community and public toilets along with solid waste management in every town. A lot still needs to be done to attain “Sampoorna Swachta”- total sanitation. Some of the expert recommendations suggests making women as the drivers of the mission as this can be a game changer in addressing the mindsets of the society and sensitization of the community. Also, a separate drive on the usage of the community /public toilets needs to be started.
