To commemorate the 151st birth anniversary of Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, Secretary, Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Sheetal Nanda, administered a ‘Swacchata’ pledge to officers and officials of the department at Civil Secretariat, Jammu.All the employees of the department participated in the oath taking ceremony and pledged to keep the country neat and clean, remain committed towards cleanliness, devote at least 2 hours every week for cleaning activity, and to inculcate the habit of cleanliness among children and family members. The pledge was administered in English, Urdu and Hindi languages.Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary exhorted upon the employees to fulfil Gandhiji’s vision and dream of Clean and Swachh Bharat.“Cleanliness is a befitting homage to Gandhiji on his birth anniversary who dreamt of clean India. He even remarked that sanitation is more important than political independence,” said Nanda.She further added that cleanliness has a direct bearing on humans, their health and families.“The WHO report states that we can save as many as 3 lakh lives every year just by keeping our surroundings clean as various diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea etc are caused due to the poor hygienic conditions.”Nanda also said, “It is our responsibility to keep our surroundings clean. Therefore, we all must come together and participate actively to make India neat and clean for our own healthy and hygienic future.”Meanwhile, a host of other programmes and activities including street plays, essay and painting competitions, cleanliness drives are conducted every year on October 2 to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti.