Swachh Bharat Abhiyan – Essay 1.
Swachh means ‘Clean’, Bharat means ‘India’ and Abhiyan means ‘Mission’. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a Social Reformation Mission by the Indian Central Government to elevate the cleanliness standards across India from the year 2014 to 2019.
Initiatives
Government Offices: The government of India has appointed Central Public Works Department (CPWD) to hygiene mission in government work areas and offices.
Railways: Railway Ministry possesses the facility of bio-toilets, garbage bins, and automatic laundries.
Digital India: This project in combination with Swachh Bharat Abhiyan will propose solar-powered garbage bins which will send signals once full.
Swachh Vidyalaya: The campaign launched by Human Resource Development Ministry participates school teachers and students.
Outcomes
The sanitation coverage rose, and hundreds of districts and lakhs of villages are declared ODF (Open Defecation Free).
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Objectives
The overall Objectives of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan are to transform India into a clean and green country. The Objective is to help India transform its global image into a leading economy focused on serious commitment to change.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in Villages
The primary objective of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in villages is to achieve an Open Defaecation Free India. The mission involves building public toilets and sewage infrastructure in all villages and small towns of India.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in Cities
The objectives of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in cities and towns are focused on cleaning of all public places including streets, transport infrastructures, water bodies [lakes, rivers], parks, play areas, office buildings, business areas, etc.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Finances
It is a huge project involving a massive budget estimate. The Indian Central Government has allotted a part of the Union Budget for this project. Also, financial assistance is also taken from the World Bank, NGOs, State Governments and Private Corporations interested in Corporate Social Responsibility.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan – Essay 2.
To give tribute to the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched on 2nd October 2014 by our Prime Minister.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or Swachh Bharat Mission was launched on the 150th birth anniversary of Bapu at Rajpath in New Delhi. This national movement was launched as a campaign to achieve a Clean India by 2nd October 2019.
This was the Prime Minister’s effort to accelerate and achieve universal sanitation and hygiene in the nation. To stress his focus on sanitation and health, this mission was started. The coordinators for this mission are the secretary of Ministry of Drinking water and Sanitation, i.e., MDWS and it handles two sub missions of Swachh Bharat urban and rural.
The Prime Minister invited all citizens of the nation to participate in this movement, and it gained national support. It evoked a sense of responsibility amongst the people for cleanliness. This dream of Mahatma Gandhi is slowly taking shape after public awareness and support. The Prime Minister too cleaned the streets in his cleanliness drive in Varanasi. Almost half of the nation faces health issues because of lack of cleanliness and proper sanitation.
Some statistics associated with Swachh Bharat Mission:
- Total budget allocated to this project is 60,000 crore INR per year.
- 78% of the sewage was being dumped in rivers.
- 68% of rural households had no toilets.
- Around 6000 tonnes of plastic waste was accumulated daily.
- 68.8 mn tonnes of waste was accumulated every year.
- 597 mn defecation was done in the open.
- 41 mn missing toilets were there.
- India’s GDP was affected by 6.4% because of lack of sanitation.
- Per capita income can increase by 6000 INR a year if proper sanitation is provided.
This mission was started to change all these statistics, and till now it has done quite a good job, and it is still progressing towards achieving a clean India.
Gandhi’s thought on cleanliness:
Gandhiji was one of the prime freedom fighters and leaders of the Indian Independence Movement. But even after freedom, his dream of a clean India remains unfulfilled. He mentioned that “Sanitation is more important than independence.” Sanitation and cleanliness were an integral part of his way of life. He wanted total sanitation for all class of society. This is because cleanliness is vital for physical as well as mental health and well-being. It is important to educate people about hygiene, cleanliness, and sanitation as well as various diseases caused by poor hygiene.
Some people tend to include personal hygiene in their lives but keep public places dirty which is completely wrong. He wanted that no one should clean his nose or spit on streets. This can cause the spread of germs and infections to others. He believed that people who spit on public places have no concern for others and society.
How can we contribute to Swachh Bharat Mission?
Here are how we can contribute to Swachh Bharat Mission and make the country cleaner and greener:
- All the water bodies like Ganga, Yamuna, and other rivers are getting cleaned every day. We all can join the movement to make our water bodies cleaner than ever before. The condition of the water bodies was becoming worse day by day and if any plans were not made to control the garbage in them, they would have become more of a garbage station than a river.
- It is very important for the people of India not to throw garbage on the roads, or inside the trains or anywhere else. They need to throw the garbage on the areas especially built for throwing garbage.
- We should never throw garbage in the water parks and grounds etc. We should behave responsibly and not throw any dirt or litter any public areas now.
- The roads become quite dirty and messy when people don’t understand the importance of Cleanliness. If we have a look at roads nowadays, then we will come to know that how well Swachh Abhiyan has changed the habits of everybody because you can’t see any dirt or garbage on the roads very easily.
- People from all over the country are planting various kinds of trees and vegetables, and in that way, a lot of people are getting to eat fresh vegetables and fruits, and the country is becoming greener with these plants as well.
Conclusion:
Cleanliness and hygiene is an important part of our daily life as well as for society and the nation. We should also follow the path shown by Mahatma Gandhi and participate in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan at individual and group level. Also, we must educate our maids, family members, friends and relatives and others about cleanliness. Using social media to create awareness about cleanliness is also very important. Even government officers, local communities, television, and media, as well as NGO’s, are playing an important role in this mission.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan – Essay 3
The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a flagship cleanliness mission that was adopted in India in 2014. The Prime Minister of India launched this Mission on 2nd October 2014, Gandhi Jayanti, with the aim of achieving Gandhiji’s vision for a clean India.
The main objective of this mission is to clean up the streets, roads and infrastructure in the rural and urban areas in the country by 2019 which marks the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The two components of this mission focus on the urban and rural areas separately as administered by the respective ministries. With 2018 drawing to an end, it is essential to understand the Mission, the progress made and the future course of action.
Meaning
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the Hindi phrase literally translates to “Clean India Mission”. This largely captures the aim and objectives of the Mission.
Objective
The primary objective is to clean the urban and rural streets, road and infrastructure. By this means, the aim is to progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal which pertains to the availability of clean water and sanitation facilities for all. Over all, the mission attempts to Clean India and create awareness about cleanliness at a national level.
Another important objective of this mission is to make India Open Defecation Free (ODF) by the 2nd of October 2019. Several community-owned and household toilets have been constructed for the same by both government and private entities. This goal is mainly captured by the Gramin Swachh Bharat Abhiyan through the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Substantial progress has been made in this front through various initiatives and ODF India seems to closer reality.
Several cleanliness activities and campaigns are being conducted under this mission towards cleaning India. The Swachhta App is one of the innovations introduced by this mission which gives a platform for the users to report and give feedback about the cleanliness status in their city. By incorporating technology and people’s participation, this mission can provide a variety of benefits ranging from better health, sanitation and also increased revenue in the form of tourism.
Significance
Swachh Bharat is very important to India for creating a culture of cleanliness and sanitation. As already stated, making India open defecation free is a very important reason behind the launch of the mission. Lack of a sanitary environment has come to become a major health hazard in the country. With medical advances made in every possible way, it becomes important to eradicate health hazards like these to ensure health living for the people of this country. The lack of wet latrine facilities has given birth to this practise and its time that we did away with it.
Gramin Swachh Bharat Mission
The Gramin Swachh Bharat Mission focuses on the rural areas of the country. It comes under the ministry of Ministry of Drinking water and Sanitation while the urban wing of this mission works under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The most important objective of the Gramin Swachh Bharath Mission is to make rural India Open- Defecation free.
Open defecation is a public health hazard. This problem is primarily due to the lack of latrine facilities in rural areas. Through the Gramin Swachh Bharat Mission, the government aims to build household-owned and community-owned toilets to make India Open-Defecation Free by 2nd October, 2019.
Our Responsibilities
As citizens of the country, we have certain responsibilities to make this mission a success. Individual efforts are symbolic of the individual drops that make the ocean of change. Some of the ways in which we can make our contribution are listed as follows
- Segregation of wastes at the household level: this helps in making significant changes in the ways in which waste is managed in the higher level.
- Composting of household wastes in places possible: this measure can be made possible at the community level. Setting up of compost pits or hogar gas plants for community electrification are some possible options
- Preventing open defecation: encourage people to use toilets wherever available and avoiding the practise of open defecation
- Construction of community toilets: in places without access to household toilets, community members can come forward to pool in funds and construct community owned and maintained toilets
- Local dustbins: setting up dustbins in streets would prevent people from disposing of waste on the streets and empty plots of land
- Organizing of cleanups in public places and installation of bins in those areas to prevent further littering
- Educating children and students to practice proper disposal and segregation of wastes at the household and community level
The list of possible practices can go on endlessly. The essence of our responsibility is to leave behind the least environment and sanitary impact as possible. Preventing open defecation, littering and engaging in proper waste disposal methods both at household and community level would bring enormous change in the cleanliness and sanitation levels on the country.
Progress made by Swachh Bharat
The sensitization towards cleanliness and sanitation has begun to set in the Indian society. The coverage of toilets in rural areas has significantly improved. However the usage of these toilets remains limited at many places. Similarly in urban areas, measures like door-to-door collection of wastes have been organised.
Conclusion
The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a major initiative taken by the Government of India for a “Clean India”. The mission has indeed taken a step towards cleanliness in India. “Clean India” is surely a reality that can be achieved by focusing on constructive and qualitative efforts.
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