Smriti Irani launches 'Swachh Bharat Mission' at KV

New Delhi, Sept 25: With an aim to promote awareness about importance of hygiene, Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday launched a campaign about cleanliness in school under 'Swachh Bharat Mission' programme, where she joined the students and teachers in cleaning the campus.

Irani, who launched the programme at a Kendriya Vidyalaya School here, used broom and shovel to clean the ground, and called up all to become part of the mission and put their best effort for its success. Under the 'Swachh Bharat, Swachh Vidyalaya' campaign, schools with the highest green rating would be felicitate with a cash prize of Rs one lakh.

The campaign, which aims to motivate the students and make them realise that hygienic way of living was the best way to lead to a fully satisfying, will go on till October 31 in the schools, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) said in a statement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also slated to release a booklet on sanitation on October 2, when he launches the 'Swachh Bharat Mission, promoting behavioural changes in children.

An important component of the mission is the construction of toilets in schools and in seven states, which account for 80 per cent of the schools without toilets, have been asked to start building toilets from October 2, when the 'Swachh Bharat Mission' would be launched.

The states include Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Assam. The state governments would initiate construction of toilets in 25,000 schools on October 2, under the 'Sarva Siksha Abhiyan' and 'Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan programme, officials in the HRD Ministry said.

States would also be advised to periodically monitor the functionality of toilets and take up repair and maintenance work, they said. The Ministry has also asked higher educational institutes to join the campaign.

PTI