Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission)

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission)

One of the major national campaign going on in the country of India is the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan which is a one of the most progressive campaigns of the country.

S.No Basic Information  Details
1 Name of the initiative Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
2 Scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
3 Launch date 2nd October 2014
4 Objective of the scheme Make a clean and hygienic India
5 Under scheme total number of towns covered 4041
6 Target fixed by the government to make India clean October 2nd, 2019
7 Estimated cost for this cleaning mission Around 62,009 Crore
8 Cost borne by the Union government for this Swachh Bharat Abhiyan 16,623 Crores

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

After coming into power one of the major campaigns that Prime Minister Narendra Modi started was Swachh Bharat Abhiyan which aims at making the country clean. It covers all the cities, towns, and rural areas of the country. The scheme was launched in New Delhi. The launch event of the initiative was a grand one where Modi and 3 million government employees, college and school students from across the country participated.

The objective of the scheme

This scheme has been initiated by Modi in order to fulfill the dream of Mahatma Gandhi of having a country that is fully clean. He has said that for a country sanitation is more important than getting independence. So Modi decided to create an India that is clean and offer ti as a gift on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi which will be witnessed in the year 2019. Clean India would not just look good, but also make India a healthy and peaceful place for living. So the objective of the initiative is to make a clean India by the 2019. It has been estimated that by the government that if people spend 100 hours in a year then the campaign would be successful.

Under this project all the sanitation problems of the country will be solved.

Why the initiative has been launched?

It has finally been realized that a cleanliness drive on a national basis is conducted in the country. This will help in the mental, physical and the social welfare of the people in the country. It will also lead to the development of the country in a way. It will improve the living standards of the people. Some of the important reason for which the campaign has been launched are-

  • This campaign will get rid of the open defecation problem in India and promote the concept of building toilets. It will also promote the concept of making insanitary toilets to flushing toilets.
  • This campaign will also help in the proper management of waste in the country and control waste pollution or land pollution. It will promote recycling of solid waste.
  • With this campaign the mentality of people will be changed so that people move towards better and sanitized living. The focus will be laid on rural sanitation as well.
  • The campaign will promote green India where the private and public sector will come together to make a clean India which is a better place to live and grow in.

Campaign in Urban areas

Around 1 crore houses received toilets under this swachh bharat abhiyan urban campaign and it is estimated that more than 2.5 lakh public toilets are planned to construct across the nation under this scheme. In addition, to that the swachh bharat abhiyan helps local administrative unit to find the proper waste management solutions in cities and towns.

All these will have to be completed within the year 2019. The agenda will be to completely get rid of open defecation.

Campaign in Gramin area

The campaign will focus on bringing about cleanliness in the rural areas as well. Building of toilets under this scheme is one of the primary aims. In the rural areas open defecation is one of the major concerns, especially for women. The cost that has been estimated for the construction of toilets across the rural areas is one lakh thirty four core. The mission will bring together the ZilaParishad, panchayat samiti and the gram panchayat.

It is very important to uplift the living quality of the people in the rural areas and this will be the primary focus in this mission. Environmental sanitation will be promote among all the citizens of the country. Prime Minister Modi has requested all the people of the country to work together towards the fulfillment of the project.

Swachh in schools

This is another major mission under this campaign. This feature of the mission aims in promoting the concept of cleanliness in schools so that from a young age the importance of cleanliness is made clear to them. A lot of events were held in different schools where the students were made to write and do various activates relating to clean and hygienic country.

The Swachh Bharat tax

In the year 2014 the Government of India imposed the Swachh Bharat cess on all the services in the country. So now apart from the service tax, one also has to pay a 0.5% Swachh Bharat cess on all and any service that one enjoys in this country. This is aimed at making the campaign successful.

Response that the mission has received

This campaign has gained a lot of popularity after its launch. Most of the state governments have supported this campaign are still working towards making their respective States clean. During the April 2014 and January 2015 around 31.83 lakh toilets were built in the country which is a large achievement. Moreover the central government has invested around Rs.2 lakh crore for the construction of around 12 crore toilets in the country.

S.No Unknown facts  Detailed Information
1 Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was Initiated to achieve Clean India by 2019
2 What’s special on 2019 Gandhi’s 150th birthday anniversary
3 Total number of toilets to be constructed under this scheme in 5 years 11 Crore Toilets across India
4 Speciality of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan India’s biggest ever cleanliness campaign
5 Amount Spend by the average person due to lack of cleanliness in India Around Rs. 6,500 per head
6 Sub-mission of SBA Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural)
Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban)
7 Administrative control of Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation
8 Administrative control of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) Ministry of Urban Development

This campaign has got support from a lot of celebrities as well. Many of the celebrities including actors and cricketers have appealed to the people of the country to be a part of this campaign and to make it a successful one.

But then there are a lot of challenges that the campaign has been facing. The main challenge is to change the mentality of the people who are used to open defecation and also littering. Changing this mind set requires a lot more than just few speeches and cleanliness drives. But then the government of India is trying hard to meet the objectives of this scheme within the year 2019.

Conclusion:

Though, earlier attempt of cleaning ends with failure, the approach taken by the current NDA government on handling ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ gives positive opinion on reaching its success by achieving its goal.

Also the steps taken by the central government for handling the expenses for “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” by charging Swachh Bharat css is truly appreciable, however, care should be taken by the respective authority and both state & central governments on not to increase the tax burden over the common citizens of India. In literal, India has more than 75% population as middle class families.

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