Urban Minister launches Swachh Bharat Week in Kozhikode

Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Drinking Water & Sanitation Narendra Singh Tomar and Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu have launched the Swachh Bharat Week at Kozhikode Railway Station in Kerala.

Swachh Bharat Week is being celebrated from the birth anniversary of ???Antyodaya??? advocate late Deendayal Upadhyaya and would continue till the birth anniversary of Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi, who voiced serious concerns about poor sanitation and its consequences, 100 years ago while speaking at the Benares Hindu University, Varanasi.

Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation has drawn up elaborate action plans for the week for rural areas while the Ministry of Urban Development did so for urban areas of the country, centred around the celebration of more and more villages, districts and cities becoming Open Defecation Free.

On the first day of Swachh Bharat Week, Swacchagrahis (volunteer Swachh Bharat Dhoots) with support from Self-Help Groups and NGOs took up awareness generation programmes at major open defecation areas in different cities and towns.

In Gujarat, Kadodara and Mandvi towns have been declared Open Defecation Free with Quality Council of India (QCI) presenting third party verification certificates in support of ODF claims by these towns after due verification, as per the Protocol evolved by the Ministry of Urban Development.

Tomar, Naidu and Prabhu

Source : Urbannewsdigest