PM Modi urges people participation as the largest “Swachh Survekshan Grameen” survey kick starts crafting hygiene awareness

New Delhi, August 1: Taking forward the Swachhta Abhiyaan legacy in the rural areas, the Swachh Survekshan survey will kick start from today creating awareness about sanitation. Inviting the citizens, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to participate in the survey contributing their share of cleanliness.

 

Appealing the people to participate in the largest rural sanitation survey, PM Modi said that their feedback will help create a cleaner India. Urging people through his twitter, PM Modi tweeted saying, "Swachh Survekshan Grameen (sanitation survey - rural) is an extensive effort that will give both strength and crucial feedback to the nation's efforts of creating a Swachh Bharat. I invite you all to take part in this survey".

The Swachhta Abhiyaan was started with an aim to combat unhealthy practices and create awareness about hygiene and cleanliness to live a healthy lifestyle. The Swachh Survekshan Grameen was launched in the month of July in an attempt to rank all 698 districts in the country on prevalent levels of cleanliness in the rural areas.

A combination of citizen feedback and direct observation of public areas by surveyors would be used; apart from the figures on toilet presence and usage that are available with the ministry will enable the ranking system at the district level. However, the government still aims to achieve the uniformity of sanitation across the country.

The Swachh Survekshan survey, which will be carried in the month of August, will also be used as an opportunity to engage the rural community on the benefits of public cleanliness, thereby taking the campaign beyond household toilets. There is obvious health and economic benefits that ensue to citizens as a result of improvements in sanitation, and massive information and awareness campaign would drive home this point.

When the Swachh Bharat Mission was launched in October 2014, an estimated 550 million Indians practiced open defecation, making the country’s sanitation indicators the worst in the world. Under this perspective, the states have shown immense progress dwelling the need to succumb to sanitation and spread the necessity of staying healthy and safe.