New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday lauded the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and said the campaign clearly proves how people’s participation energises development. “The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a direct proof of how people’s participation can add new energy to the development of a country. Be it construction of toilets or disposal of garbage, the conservation of historical heritage or the competition for cleanliness, the country is today writing new stories in the field of cleanliness,” he tweeted. The Prime Minister gave out statistics on the progress made under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. He said that cleanliness has become the national character of the country and every countryman was determined to achieve the goal of India free from dirt and waste. According to details attached with the Prime Minister’s tweet, the scheme ensured a dignified life by constructing toilets in more than 11.5 crore houses. Modi claimed that more than 58 thousand villages and more than 33 hundred cities became Open Defecation Free. The scheme has ensured availability of toilets everywhere by construction of more than 8.2 lakh community sanitation complexes in villages and cities. He said there has been a four fold increase in waste disposal in urban areas – from 26,000 tonnes per day in 2013-14 to 1 lakh tonnes per day in 2021-22. Door-step garbage collection was being carried out in more than 87,000 urban wards by 2.5 lakh garbage collection vehicles. The Prime Minister also spoke about how cow dung was being used by setting up more than 350 biogas plants in 232 districts. He called it a classic example of waste segregation. UNI ASU MR
