Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan won’t be a success unless it becomes a people’s campaign. “Cleanliness primarily is a matter of habit and once that habit sets in, you will never tolerate filth. In our country, people are very conscious of personal hygiene, but social hygiene has been dismal,” said Modi, adding that equal importance should be given to both. “If we consider this to be the government’s campaign or Modi’s campaign, it won’t succeed. It should become our campaign; from the PM to the ordinary person, no one has the right to litter,” said Modi. [related-post] The PM was speaking at an award ceremony organised by India Today to mark the first anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Modi said 95 lakh toilets were built in the country as against the target of 60 lakh. He said there has been intensive capacity building across all districts. “Our nation is large, the attitudes vary and the challenges are many, but 125 crore people can take (Mahatma) Gandhi as an inspiration and decide to bring about a change,” he said. Talking about the importance of converting waste to energy, Modi said the concept of reusing and recycling is not a western import but intrinsic to Indian culture. Explaining the long-term gestation period of such a drive, Modi cited the examples of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea, where the cleanliness campaigns were kick-started in the ‘60s.
