New Delhi: The pace of the NDA government's ambitious Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) has slowed down over the period since its launch in October 2014, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said even as he asserted that the Centre is committed to step up efforts to meet the goals.
"The momentum, which was there in 2014, has steadily slowed down. The momentum of any campaign does not remain same (throughout)...because in the life of a person and the government, there are so many works to do simultaneously...but we will step up (efforts) to attain the goals," Tomar said during a media interaction.
The Rural Development Minister noted that the scope of the campaign is "so big" that it comes across as a challenge and said the Centre will strive to achieve the target of open defecation free (ODF) India by 2019 with the help of state governments and Panchayati Raj institutions.
During the meeting, convened by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation to seek suggestions and support from the media in implementation of the programme, Tomar urged the press to help make the campaign a "success story", saying the role of electronic and print media is "very crucial" in this regard.
"We are also going to launch Swachh Bharat National Media awards for media houses which will encourage people to contribute to the campaign," he said.
The Minister also asked people to share among themselves practices of cleanliness.
Tomar said the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has already launched a month-long information campaign. "This is a big challenge and we are working on it," he said.
Under the campaign, the Ministry has launched a newsletter called 'Swachhta Samachar' and 'Ask Me Anything' campaign on social media.
Tomar will also screen five films related to the campaign to share success stories from ground zero and a 'chai pe charcha' programme with "selected champion collectors of SBM" (rural) on August 11.
"We are going to Allahabad to organise a convention of heads of gram panchayats located along the Ganga on August 20. We will ensure the areas along the river become ODF," he said.
There are 5,169 villages along the Ganga that fall under 1,651 gram panchayats in 52 districts of five basin states of the river. The Centre has also been offering assistance of Rs 12,000 per household for constructing toilets in villages.
Earlier, Parmeswaran Iyer informed the media about the various steps taken by the Ministry including launching clean-up initiatives focused on 100 iconic heritage, spiritual and cultural places in the country.
These include Vaishno Devi (Jammu and Kashmir), Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Maharashtra), Taj Mahal (Uttar Pradesh), Tirupati temple (Andhra Pradesh), Golden Temple (Punjab), Manikarnika Ghat (Uttar Pradesh), Ajmer Sharif Dargah (Rajasthan),Meenakshi Temple (Tamil Nadu), Kamakhya Temple (Assam) and Jagannath Puri (Odisha).
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