NEW DELHI: Hailing the Swachh Bharat Mission as the largest and most successful people’s movement of the 21st century, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said mass participation had transformed the campaign into a new path towards prosperity for India.
He noted that the World Health Organisation credited the mission with saving 3,00,000 lives between 2014 and 2019 by reducing deaths caused by diarrhoea.
At an event organised here to mark 10 years of the mission, the Prime Minister said the campaign was creating employment on a large scale. “Many sectors have benefited from the construction of crores of toilets, while artisans such as masons, plumbers and labourers found employment in villages because of the boom in the construction of toilets,” Modi said.
He noted that over 28 crore people took part in more than 27 lakh events organised in just 15 days during the ‘Sewa Pakhwada’ held between September 17 and October 2 as part of the “Swachhta hi Seva” campaign.
The PM also inaugurated projects worth around Rs 10,000 crore under the Swachh Bharat and AMRUT 2.0 missions, which include water and sewage treatment plants.“When people talk about the 21st century India after 1,000 years, they will definitely remember the Swachh Bharat Mission,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister also criticised previous governments for neglecting basic sanitation. “They never considered filth and lack of toilets as national issues. It was like they made filth a part of their lives,” he stated.
“The first job of a Prime Minister is to make the life of a common man easy. I talked about toilets and sanitary pads and today we see the results,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister said more than 60 per cent of the population was defecating in the open a decade ago. Women were particularly inconvenienced by the absence of toilets in houses.
“A UNICEF report indicated the women felt safer after the construction of toilets in their houses,” Modi added.
The Prime Minister also noted a shift in attitudes toward sanitation workers, stating that the Swachh Bharat Mission had given them respect and pride.