Published on Oct 03, 2014, MYPAPER, SINGAPORE
Modi evokes Gandhi's 'Clean India' dream
NEW DELHI
YOU could say it's a case of a new broom
sweeps clean.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
wielded a broom in a New Delhi slum yesterday as he pledged to sweep away the
country's reputation for poor public hygiene and rudimentary sanitation.
Hours after flying home from
Washington, the energetic Premier rolled up his sleeves and picked up the broom
to launch a "Clean India" campaign on a public holiday celebrating
independence icon Mahatma Gandhi's life.
"Gandhi gave us the slogan 'Quit
India' and people came together to win our country's freedom (from British colonial
rule)... but his other dream of 'Clean India' is still incomplete," Mr
Modi said in a televised address.
The 64-year-old, who came to power in
May, has made public health one of the main priorities of his new
administration.
In his independence-day address to the
nation on Aug 15, Mr Modi spoke of how he was bothered by the pervasive filth
around him.
"After so many years of
independence, do we still want to live in filthiness? Can't we resolve this
much?" he asked.
So far, he has promised to ensure all
schools have separate toilets for boys and girls, and provide every home with a
toilet over the next five years.
A new report by the United Nation's
children's fund, Unicef, estimates that almost 594 million - or nearly 50 per
cent of India's population - defecate in the open, massively increasing the
risk of disease in densely populated areas.
Some 300 million women and girls are
forced to squat outside, normally under the cover of darkness, exposed not only
to the risks of disease and bacterial infection, but also harassment and
assault by men.
The issue was thrown into the spotlight
in late May when two girls, aged 12 and 14, were allegedly attacked as they
went into the fields to relieve themselves. Police are investigating if they
were gang-raped before being lynched.
Mr Modi said that the responsibility
for public cleanliness did not rest solely with sanitation workers, but also
required a mindset change in a country which recently celebrated a successful
space mission to Mars.
"It ('Clean India') can be
achieved, it can happen. If we can reach Mars, then why can't we clean our
neighbourhoods?" he added.
As part of the campaign's launch,
ministers and an estimated four million civil servants and schoolchildren took
part in a mass clean-up of government buildings, many of which stank of stale
urine and were littered with rubbish.
AFP, BBC
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