Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched in Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh

New Delhi, Oct 2: To make 'Swachh Bharat Mission' a people's movement, officials, activists and citizens across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh on Thursday launched a cleanliness drive on the 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The idea behind the drive is to make the country clean and hygienic, officials said. In Punjab, the drive was carried out in offices, police headquarters, Raj Bhawan, among others.

Officials, employees and school children also took a 'cleanliness oath' on the occasion. At Punjab police headquarters here, officers were administered the 'cleanliness oath' in presence of Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Sumedh Singh, an official spokesman said.

Earlier, in a comprehensive cleanliness campaign, the whole premises of police headquarters and offices were cleaned thoroughly and instructions were issued to make it a regular feature, the spokesman added. Meanwhile, Punjab governor Shivraj V Patil paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Punjab Raj Bhawan.

"The birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, is an occasion for all of us to rededicate ourselves to Bapuji's ideals of truth, non-violence and all-round development," he said. He appealed to staff to inculcate the habit of cleanliness, educate their families and encourage others to participate in the cleanliness drive.

He declared taking special steps to clean important public places of Chandigarh, especially the Sukhna Choe, Patiala-ki-Rao, N-Choe drains, vegetables and fruit market.

In Haryana too, people from different walks of life participated in the campaign.

Principal Secretary to Punjab Governor and administrator UT Chandigarh, M P Singh administered the oath of cleanliness to the entire staff of Punjab Raj Bhavan. Similar reports of cleanliness drive were received from different parts of Haryana as well.

Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, Union Ministers Ramvilas Paswan, Ravishankar Prasad and actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha took up the broom to launch the Swachh Bharat mission in Bihar today.

Manjhi launched the Swachh Bharat mission from Gandhi Maidan by delivering oath to people to keep the city clean. Talking to reporters, Manjhi praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching the nationwide cleanliness campaign and appealed all to make at least 100 people aware about the importance of cleanliness and devote 100 hours every year for this work.

The Chief Minister flagged off a vehicle which would go around the state to spread the message of cleanliness among the people. Elsewhere in the state, Union ministers Ramvilas Paswan, Ravishankar Prasad and Upendra Kushwaha started the cleanliness drive at different places.

Paswan and Kushwaha broomed the platform and premises of Hajipur Railway station, while Union Law minister Ravishankar Prasad, accompanied by General Manager of East Central Railway (ECR) zone Madhuresh Kumar and many BJP workers, took part in the campaign at Patna junction station.

Prasad told reporters it was a great initiative from Prime Minister Narendra Modi where he himself and his Cabinet colleagues have taken up the broom to launch cleanliness drive on the birth anniversary of Gandhi.

Actor-politician and Patna Saheb MP Shatrughan Sinha took part in the mission at Patna Airport and later went to the state Assembly and took up the broom to clean the area.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a strong and effective social message of cleanliness on the auspicious occasion of Gandhi Jayanti," Sinha told PTI.

"Even during election campaign I had given a call for clean Patna-green Patna and by participating in the cleanliness drive today, I wish to make people aware to the health hazards from dirt and filth," he said.

ECR officials at different big and small stations in the five Divisions of Danapur, Mughalsarai, Dhanbad, Sonepur and Samastipur took part in the campaign and swept the platforms and station premises, Chief Public Relations Officer of ECR Arvind Kumar Rajak said.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor E S L Narasimhan today launched the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' at the Raj Bhavan by administering a pledge to the staff.

The Governor and his wife Vimala Narasimhan later symbolically swept the roads near Raj Bhavan. "People of the two states should take an active part in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and make India clean by 2019.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a call on Independence Day to every citizen to strive to make India clean. The aim is to build a clean India by October 2, 2019. The Prime Minister asked everyone to take a vow in this regard.

Clean India would not be possible with one or two individuals and it should be a collective effort," the Governor said on the occasion. Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary I Y R Krishna Rao administered the Swachh Bharat pledge to the government staff at the Secretariat.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Union Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Seetharaman took part in the Swachh Bharat programme at Prakash Nagar in Vijayawada, the new capital of the state.

Chandrababu garlanded the statue of Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi and paid glowing tributes on his 145th birth anniversary before launching the Swachh Bharat campaign.

PTI