The Minister of State for DNortheast to play a leadership role in Swachhta drive, says MoS (DoNER) (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh administered the ‘Swachhta pledge’ to the officers and staff of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), on the occasion of Swachhta Pakhwada, which began here today. The DoNER Ministry is observing “Swachhta Pakhwada”, from February 16-28, 2017.

During the occasion, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that Swachhta should be inculcated as a habit among us and the cleanliness activities should be a continuous process beyond the observation of Swachhta Pakhwada. In this regard, he said that there is a need for change in the mindset and also stressed upon the participation of youth in the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ launched by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in the year 2014.

Dr Jitendra Singh said whether it is Swachh Bharat Mission or the decision of demonetisation, people across India have supported the initiatives taken by the Central Government. He said that North East Region (NER) is known for cleanliness, for instance, Sikkim has become the Open Defecation Free (ODF) state and it is the first state in India to be so. He also said that a village in Megalaya has won the title of Asia's cleanest village. The Minister said that the rest of India should take inspiration from these examples set by Northeast. He said that NER should play a leadership role in the Swachhta drive.

The activities to be undertaken during the Swachhta Pakhwada being organised by the DoNER Ministry, include workshop on clean technologies, Swachhta walks, blog writing/photography and video clip contest, weeding out of old files, cleanest room in the Ministry’ award, visit of officers to all the 8 NE states to spread the message of cleanliness.

The Secretary, DoNER Shri Naveen Verma and other senior officers and staff from the Ministry of DoNER were also present during the occasion

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KSD/NK/KM

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