A day ahead of Gandhi Jayanti, people from all walks of life, from politicians to students, participated in an hour-long “shramdaan” on Sunday, in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal for a nationwide cleanliness drive during his recent ‘Mann ki Baat’ address.
According to the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, more than 9.20 lakh sites across the country have been adopted for the mega drive.
In the recent “Mann Ki Baat” episode, the PM appealed for “one hour of shramdaan for swachhata” on October 1 by all citizens and said it would be a “Swachhanjali” to Mahatma Gandhi on the eve of his birth anniversary.
While Union Home Minister Amit Shah participated in a cleanliness drive in Ahmedabad, BJP national president JP Nadda took part in Delhi’s Jhandewalan area. Union ministers and BJP leaders across the country grabbed brooms and also took part in the ‘Swachhata hi Seva’ campaign.
Speaking to reporters, Union Power Minister RK Singh said, “We (Centre) have taken a resolve to make the country clean. It is a big challenge but we will do it.”
Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari also took volunteered for a cleanliness activity in New Delhi.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said it held cleanliness drives at 500 locations across the national capital.
Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, urging people to join the drive, said in a post on X, “Come, let’s create a new history! At 10 am today, let’s volunteer for an hour, paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi through cleanliness.” “Scan or visit local cleanliness programmes to join. Dream of a #GarbageFreeIndia Together, we’ll make it happen,” he said.
Cricketers such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma also appealed to the people to come together for “Ek Tareekh, Ek Ghanta, Ek Saath” and join the largest citizen-led movement to strengthen the resolve towards cleanliness.
The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said NGOs, market associations, self-help groups, faith groups, trade bodies and private sector companies, among others, volunteered for the “shramdaan” in more than 22,000 market areas, 10,000 water bodies, 7,000 bus stands/toll plazas, 1,000 gaushalas, 300 zoos and wildlife areas and various other locations in rural and urban India.