The Government is keen to make the Swachh Bharat Mission into a ‘Swachhagraha’ movement with people’s participation to make the country clean in the next five years. This was stated by the Minister of Urban Development Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu while speaking at the Inaugural Session of the two day International Seminar on “Clean and Capable India of Gandhi’s Dreams” here today. The seminar was inaugurated by the President Pranab Mukherjee. It is being organized by the Rajghat Samadi Committee, a statutory body chaired by the Urban Development Minister. Shri Venkaiah Naidu observed that the country is still to realise the Gandhi’s dream of a clean India which was envisioned by the Mahatma about a 100 years ago. He said that Gandhi led the masses of the country on the path of ‘Satyagraha’ towards freedom and for the Mahatma, cleanliness was as important as political freedom.
Naidu stressed that taking inspiration from Gandhi ji, people of the country should insist on cleanliness and take up mass action with a missionary zeal of ‘Swachhagraha’. He noted that Mahatma’s vision of a clean India goes beyond a set of physical targets for construction of toilets. The Clean India campaign needs enlightened individual actions to uphold every fellow citizen’s right to live in a clean environment. Venkaiah Naidu said that poor sanitation is the cause of about 80% of diseases besides costing about 6% of the country’s GDP every year. The Urban Development Minister stated that the central government is inspired by the Gandhi’s philosophy of inclusive development based on the involvement and empowerment of every individual for collective advancement and has launched various initiatives like the Make in India campaign, Skill Development etc.
Naidu noted that Gandhiji was “an agent of emancipation and empowerment of every individual and only perverted and degenerated minds can interpret his thoughts and deeds differently”. The two day seminar is being attended by over 1,000 Gandhians from India and abroad, representatives of Gandhian Institutions, scholars and research students. The two day deliberations will throw further insights on the conceptualization, evolution and manifestation of Gandhi’s concepts of clean and capable India for wider dissemination. Minster of State for Urban Development Shri Babul Supriyo, Secretary(UD) Shri Madhusudhan Prasad and Additional Secretary(UD) Shri Durga Shankar Mishra also attended the inaugural session.Shri Venkaiah Naidu released ‘Rajghat Samadhi Patrika’ on the occasion.