Shading brooms over Lok Sabha thoroughfares, BJP MPs participate in cleanliness drive under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

New Delhi, July 13: Aiming to reach the sustainable development goals by October this year citing 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, several BJP leaders today joined the cleaning campaign in the Lok Sabha premises under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

 

 

Shading the street brooms over the thoroughfare outside the parliament, Speaker Om Birla, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Mathura MP Hema Malini and MoS for Finance Anurag Thakur cleared the junk around the House, setting an example of no work being dull.

 

Being India's largest cleanliness drive to date with three million government employees and students from all parts of India participating in 4,043 cities, towns, and rural areas, the campaign was officially launched on 2 October 2014 by PM Narendra Modi, who called the campaign Satyagrah se Swachhtagrah in reference to Gandhi's Champaran Satyagraha launched on 10 April 1917.

 

By December 2018, the cities and towns which have been declared ODF stood at 22 per cent and the urban wards which have achieved 100 per cent door to door solid waste collection stood at 50 per cent. Also the number of Swachhagrahi volunteers working across urban local bodies rose to 20,000, and those working in rural India rose to more than a lakh.

 

"It is highly appreciable that the Speaker of the House took initiative to carry out 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, in Parliament premises. I will go back to Mathura next week and carry out this Abhiyan there as well", said Hema Malini  

 

Organising a two day cleanliness drive in the Parliament House, Speaker Birla on Friday directed all the members to stay in the national capital and attend the drive. Generally, most MPs leave Delhi on Friday for their respective constituencies. However, Speaker Sir yesterday allotted different areas to members for the Abhiyan.

 

Apart from the Speaker Birla, Vice-President Venkiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also to supposedly attend the programme.