Madhya Pradesh upholds Bapu's dream of a ‘Clean India'

Mahatma Gandhi, the father of our nation, had sown the seeds of ‘swachhta’ back in 1915. He gave the message of ‘Quit India and Clean India’. As soon as he returned home after practicing law in South Africa, Bapu insisted on making the country independent as well as cleaning it and immediately launched a campaign for this mission from Haridwar, Khumb Mela. Addressed the public at various places and explained to the people that cleaning one’s country is not someone else’s job but of its own citizens. 

Bapu bemoaned our civic sense as our social responsibility. In keeping with Bapu’s vision of clean India, on 2nd October 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the mantra ‘Na gandagi karenge, Na karne denge, to all citizens through the Swachh Bharat Mission. While leading the mass movement for cleanliness, Modi said it was our social responsibility to fulfil Gandhiji’s vision of a Clean India and the success of it lies in the involvement of 125 crore Indians.

 Implemented with sincere attempt that patriotism and not politics should inspire the mission, the dream of a ‘Clean India’ once seen by Pujya Bapuji has begun to get a shape. With citizens now becoming active participants in Swachh Bharat Mission, more than 100 million toilets have been built in villages, nagar panchayats across the country and hundreds of villages have become open-defecation free. The Mission is broadly seen to be one of the most successful missions as it provided access to toilet facilities to millions of rural households since the history of independent India. 

Madhya Pradesh joined this mass movement of cleanliness, by reaching out to people from different sections of the society – government officials to jawans, celebrities to the sportspersons, industrialists to spiritual leaders for the noble work. This change has been catalyzed by Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan who brought millions of people across the State to join in the cleanliness initiatives of the government departments, NGOs and local community centers. 

The journey of the State towards cleanliness has been challenging, but the State has remained resolute. Through the joint efforts of CM Chouhan and the MP government, using the model of ‘Janbhagidari’, Indore has been ranked as India’s cleanest city for the fifth year in a row by Swachh Survekshan 2021– an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns across India launched as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission. The State has bagged as many as 38 awards in Swachh Survekshan 2021 and star rankings have been received by 27 cities in Madhya Pradesh. Notably, a total of seven cities, namely: Indore Bhopal, Ujjain, Dewas, Hoshangabad, Barwaha and Panchmarhi received  Cantt Excellence Award. Indore, Dewas and Bhopal secured the best position in the Safai Mitra Safety Challenge, with Bhopal ranking third in the country in this challenge.

Undoubtedly, Swachh Bharat Mission has become a mass movement in Madhya Pradesh and the leadership of CM Chouhan has time and again upheld Bapu’s dream a clean India.