By The Editor
None can dispute that cleanliness is essential for health and it is not confined only to individuals but also to surroundings. Will Durant said, “The health of nations is more important than the wealth of nations.” The health of a nation implies that citizens should be healthy not only in body but in mind and spirit as well. The first step in attaining health is cleanliness failing which diseases of all kinds may afflict humans and which may lead to worse situations. With this concept in mind, Swachh Bharat Mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2 2014, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. One of the dirtiest and unhygienic habits of rural India was open defecation responsible for breeding of germs and parasites and so the causes of various types of diseases. Due to lack of proper facilities, surprisingly this unsavoury practice was also an unwelcome scene in towns and cities and which unfortunately still continues to certain extent. Piles of garbage which lie in different residential areas are an ugly sight and these too are breeding grounds for diseases.
Under Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), the aim was to build domestic toilets and to collect garbage from homes to be dumped and subsequently incinerated. Social welfare schemes provide jobs to sanitation workers and rag pickers. Similarly, under Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural), during the six years from October 2014 to December 2020 more than 6 lakh villages in 706 districts across the country are open defecation free (ODF). For cleanliness in rural areas, the Government of India launched in September 2019 a 10-year action plan. For making India clean, now the government insists not only on authorities but exhorts the public to participate in keeping the locality clean. As a result, more and more people are involved in the success of the mission. Notably, before launching of the mission people in Meghalaya, rural as well urban, always set aside at least one day in a year for a cleaning drive in their respective localities in which the public fully participated successfully and this popular practice still continues. Over and above, it creates an atmosphere of social awareness and mutual respect. These kinds of activities result in the well-being of the people due to a healthy environment.
As an encouragement, the Centre carries out cleanliness surveys of cities every year and accordingly ranks them. Now similar surveys and ranking will cover villages also by using certain parameters. Field survey will be conducted from October 25 to December 23. For a start, 17,475 villages in 698 districts across the country were selected in 2021. People were encouraged to give the required correct information. According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), India made headlines because of the largest contribution towards elimination of open defecation in the world between 2015 and 2020. Encouraged by the success, the country has embarked on Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 for 2021-2026 with new relevant parameters being included.