Swachh Bharat Mission is also a shining example of the philosophy of ‘Antyodaya Se Sarvodaya’. It has prioritised the marginalised and vulnerable sections of our cities, and has striven to uplift and empower the urban poor, said Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas today. He was speaking at the launch of Swachhata Hi Seva – 2023.

As a prelude to Swachh Bharat Diwas, the annual Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) fortnight is being jointly organised by Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban and Grameen between 15th Sept to 2nd Oct ‘23. The fortnight aims to mobilize the participation of crores of citizens across the country via various activities such as Indian Swachhata League 2.0, SafaiMitra Suraksha Shivir and mass cleanliness drives.

SHS-2023 was launched by Minister of Jal Shakti Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri and Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj Singh in the presence of  Shri Kaushal Kishore, Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs, Smt. Vini Mahajan, Secretary, Drinking Water and Sanitation Department and Sh. Manoj Joshi, Secretary Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs through a virtual programme.

During the event, senior officials from cities of Leh, Ladakh; Pimpri, Maharashtra; Meerut, Uttar Pradesh; Lakhimpur,    Assam shared best practices of Swachhata related activities in their respective cities.

A video on SHS- 2023 was launched during the event. In addition to this the event also witnessed launch of logo, website and portal of SHS- 2023. ‘Indian Swachhata League (ISL) 2.0’, ‘Safaimitra Suraksha Shivir’ Logos and ‘Citizens’ Portal’ were also launched on this occasion.

Speaking about the SBM and launch of SHS 2023, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, said that the upcoming ninth anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission and the launch of ‘Swachhata hi Seva’ 2023 is a moment of celebration. It is a time to reaffirm ourselves to the cause of keeping our cities clean. With the launch of the Swachhata hi Seva fortnight, we re-dedicate ourselves to the cause of Swachhata, the Minister added.

Addressing the participants, Housing & Urban Affairs Minister Shi Hardeep Singh Puri said that  when the honourable Prime Minister announced the Swachh Bharat Mission from the ramparts of the Red Fort on 15 August 2014, such a large-scale transformation had never been imagined before. Despite a poor performance on sanitation till then, India achieved the target of ODF in the next five years. All 4,884 ULBs (100%) in India are now Open Defecation Free (ODF).