The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today took part in a cleanliness drive with young school children in Delhi and interacted with them marking 10 years of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. 

Upon the Prime Minister’s enquiry about the benefits of cleanliness, the student mentioned prevention from ailments and the vision to create awareness about a cleaner and healthier India. A student also mentioned the rise in the spread of diseases due to the absence of toilets. Shri Modi informed that most people were compelled to defecate in the open earlier which led to the widespread of a multitude of diseases, and was extremely disadvantageous for women. The Prime Minister informed that the first steps were taken with the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan where separate toilets were built for girls in schools which led to a sharp reduction in their dropout rates. 

The Prime Minister further discussed today’s occasion of the birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi ji and Lal Bahadur Shastri ji. Shri Modi expressed satisfaction with the growing number of youth engaging in Yoga and also highlighted the benefits of asana. A few children also demonstrated a few asanas to the Prime Minister drawing huge applause. He also stressed the need for good nutrition. Upon the Prime Minister’s enquiry about the PM-Sukanya Yojna, a student elaborated on the scheme and said that it enables opening up a bank account for girls to assist them financially when they grow up to become adults. The Prime Minister explained that a PM Sukanya Samruddhi account can be opened for girls as soon as they are born and suggested depositing Rs 1000 every year which can be used for education and marriage later in life. He informed that the same deposit would rise to Rs 50,000 in 18 years with an interest received of about Rs 32,000 to Rs 35,000. PM Modi said that girls receive interest up to 8.2 percent. 

The Prime Minister also took a walkthrough of the exhibition featuring the works of children focussed on cleanliness. He shared his experience of a school in a barren region in Gujarat where each student was assigned a tree and asked to water it every day by urging them to carry water from their kitchens. The Prime Minister said that he had witnessed an unprecedented transformation in the form of greenery when he visited the same school after 5 years. The Prime Minister also threw light on the benefits of waste segregation to produce compost and encouraged the students to follow this practice at home. He also suggested creating awareness about the ills of plastic in their community and substituting it with a cloth bag. 

Further interacting with the children, Shri Modi pointed to the spectacles of Gandhiji on a display board and impressed upon the children that Gandhiji keeps a watch on whether cleanliness is maintained or not. He said Gandhiji worked towards cleanliness throughout his life. Sharing an anecdote, Shri Modi told the children that when Gandhiji was given a choice between freedom and cleanliness, Gandhiji chose cleanliness over freedom as he valued cleanliness more than everything. Upon enquiring the students whether cleanliness should be a programme or a habit, the children answered cleanliness should be a habit in unison. He informed the children that cleanliness is not a responsibility of a single individual or a single family or a one-time event, but it is a continuous process until an individual is alive. He informed the students that the mantra of “I will not dirty my surroundings” should be adopted by every citizen of the country. The Prime Minister made the children take a pledge of cleanliness.

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MJPS/SR/TS