Urging the nation to espouse the principles of Mahatma Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2 laid out a vision to materialise Bapu's ideals.
Speaking from the banks of the Sabarmati river, where he addressed thousands of sarpanches and local body leaders, PM Modi paid his respects to Mahatma Gandhi as well as former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.
He added it was at the Sabarmati Ashram that Bapu laid the principles of truth and non-violence and commissioned 'Swachhagraha'.
"Today, self-motivated groups across rural India, including cooperative groups, have declared themselves open-defecation free (ODF). This is the testimony of the success of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan," he said.
"I feel like history is repeating itself. Like, on Gandhi's call, lakhs of people joined the independence movement. Similarly, today crores of Indians have taken up the movement of Swachhata (cleanliness)," he added.
He quoted Bapu and said, "In keeping with his words – 'Be the change you want to see in the world', we have started a revolution towards cleanliness. In keeping with that, more than 11 crore toilets were constructed for over 60 crore people in the last 60 months."
The prime minister said that these statistics could not compare to the “satisfaction” of knowing that young girls are now not skipping school and women don’t have to wait until dark to relieve themselves. He said that because of Swachhata Abhiyan, the money spent by poor people to get treated has reduced significantly and that the movement has also generated lakhs of employment opportunities, especially in rural areas.
According to UNICEF, in the last five years, Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan has had a positive effect of Rs 20 lakh crore on the economy, as it positively affected literacy and productivity indices, PM Modi said.
Asserting that “this is the model that Gandhi wanted,” he said that this is only the “first step”.
He said that the efforts are still ongoing and that behavioural change needs to be encouraged. “These changes have to become permanent. We have to also include those who have been left out in the movement”.
The prime minister said that water recharging and conservation efforts being taken up under the Jal Jivan Mission will only a shot in the arm for the Swachhata movement. “Rs 3.5 lakh crore will be spent for this,” PM Modi declared.
He emphasized on the vision of making India single-use plastic-free by 2020. “We have to get rid of single-use plastic. This will resolve the issue of blockage in drainage and sewage, it’ll be good for the environment as well as animals and ocean life,” PM Modi said.
"All this can be achieved by behavioural change. This is what Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri have taught us," he added.
Reiterating Bapu's ideals, Modi said, "We are trying to achieve Gandhi's ideals of a healthy India using Ayushmaan Bharat, FitIndia; his dream of a self-reliant India through Make In India, Stand-up India and Start-up India; his vision to target the lowest common denominator through Ujjwala and Saubhagya schemes; and his dream of using technology to make lives easier hrough Aadhaar and direct transfer schemes."
"We have to look for the solutions to our problems on our own, only then can we help others," he added
Before he concluded, PM Modi urged each Indian to make a promise that will help in nation-building, saying "That will be the real tribute to Mahatma Gandhi".
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