Ujjain (MP) President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday said that only cleanliness will make India healthy and developed and appealed to the people to come forward and take a step in this direction.
Addressing the Safai Mitra Sammelan in Ujjain, Murmu also praised Madhya Pradesh's Indore city for remaining on top in the cleanliness survey for the seventh consecutive time and Bhopal for being the cleanest state capital in the country.
“It brings me immense happiness to honor the safai mitras (sanitation workers). Only cleanliness will make the country healthy and developed. By honoring safai mitras we honor ourselves,” he said.
Murmu appealed to the people to come forward to make the country “swachh, swasthya aur viksit” (clean, healthy and developed).
The President hoped that people from every village and street in the country would come forward to work under the Swachh Bharat Mission and added that by doing so only the nation will be able to implement Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of 'swachhata' (cleanliness).
“We all know that a step towards cleanliness will help keep the country clean. We all must move forward to make the country clean, healthy and developed,” Murmu said.
The Swachh mission has become a national movement in the last 10 years and has brought about larger scale changes in the country, he said.
“Thanks to Swachh Bharat Mission, the level of awareness about swachhata has increased and people's behavior towards cleanliness has changed a lot. “This gives me immense pleasure,” he stated.
Murmu also recalled that she had started her public life with swachhata in her hometown of Odisha, where she had worked as vice-president of the Notified Area Council.
“I used to go from one ward to another to inspect the cleaning work and discuss the issue with safai mitras and others,” she said.
Under the Swachh mission, more than 11 crore toilets have been constructed to address the problem of open defecation and more than 2.25 lakh community cleansing complexes have been constructed. She played an important role in ensuring women's pride, health and safety, she said.
The president also expressed her gratitude to the government for providing separate bathrooms for female students, which has allowed her to increase her literacy level.
According to a prestigious survey, thanks to the Swachh Bharat Mission, the infant mortality rate in the country has decreased and the annual health cost of rural families has reduced by an average of Rs 50,000, she said.
Praising the people of Madhya Pradesh for playing an important role in the cleanliness drive, he said Indore remained on top as the cleanest city in the cleanliness survey for the seventh consecutive time, while Bhopal emerged as the capital of the cleanest state in the country.
The President also praised the role of sanitation workers and called them frontline fighters as they played an important role in keeping the city clean and protecting citizens from various diseases associated with filth.
"They play an important role in nation-building and by honoring them, we are actually raising our own pride," she said.
The President also said that the Swachh campaign has increased awareness about cleanliness among people and their behavior towards swachhata has changed a lot.
On the occasion, Murmu felicitated five safai mitras, including four women, and also laid the foundation stone of the six-lane Ujjain-Indore highway, which will be constructed for Rs 1,692 crore.
Parliamentary Governor Mangubhai Patel and Chief Minister Mohan Yadav also addressed the programme.
Later, the president visited the famous Mahakaleshwar temple, one of the 12 'jyotirlings' of the country, and prayed before the deity in the sanctum sanctorum.
Murmu, along with the governor and CM, also cleaned the shrine premises with a broom and posed for a photograph with the main temple in the background.
Earlier in the day, Murmu planted a Kadamb (Bur flower) sapling on the campus of the more than two-century-old Kothi Residence in Indore.
Governor Patel and CM Yadav joined her and planted Rudraksh and Parijat saplings, respectively, on the premises, officials said.
Addressing the Safai Mitra Sammelan in Ujjain, Murmu also praised Madhya Pradesh's Indore city for remaining on top in the cleanliness survey for the seventh consecutive time and Bhopal for being the cleanest state capital in the country.
“It brings me immense happiness to honor the safai mitras (sanitation workers). Only cleanliness will make the country healthy and developed. By honoring safai mitras we honor ourselves,” he said.
Murmu appealed to the people to come forward to make the country “swachh, swasthya aur viksit” (clean, healthy and developed).
The President hoped that people from every village and street in the country would come forward to work under the Swachh Bharat Mission and added that by doing so only the nation will be able to implement Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of 'swachhata' (cleanliness).
“We all know that a step towards cleanliness will help keep the country clean. We all must move forward to make the country clean, healthy and developed,” Murmu said.
The Swachh mission has become a national movement in the last 10 years and has brought about larger scale changes in the country, he said.
“Thanks to Swachh Bharat Mission, the level of awareness about swachhata has increased and people's behavior towards cleanliness has changed a lot. “This gives me immense pleasure,” he stated.
Murmu also recalled that she had started her public life with swachhata in her hometown of Odisha, where she had worked as vice-president of the Notified Area Council.
“I used to go from one ward to another to inspect the cleaning work and discuss the issue with safai mitras and others,” she said.
Under the Swachh mission, more than 11 crore toilets have been constructed to address the problem of open defecation and more than 2.25 lakh community cleansing complexes have been constructed. She played an important role in ensuring women's pride, health and safety, she said.
The president also expressed her gratitude to the government for providing separate bathrooms for female students, which has allowed her to increase her literacy level.
According to a prestigious survey, thanks to the Swachh Bharat Mission, the infant mortality rate in the country has decreased and the annual health cost of rural families has reduced by an average of Rs 50,000, she said.
Praising the people of Madhya Pradesh for playing an important role in the cleanliness drive, he said Indore remained on top as the cleanest city in the cleanliness survey for the seventh consecutive time, while Bhopal emerged as the capital of the cleanest state in the country.
The President also praised the role of sanitation workers and called them frontline fighters as they played an important role in keeping the city clean and protecting citizens from various diseases associated with filth.
"They play an important role in nation-building and by honoring them, we are actually raising our own pride," she said.
The President also said that the Swachh campaign has increased awareness about cleanliness among people and their behavior towards swachhata has changed a lot.
On the occasion, Murmu felicitated five safai mitras, including four women, and also laid the foundation stone of the six-lane Ujjain-Indore highway, which will be constructed for Rs 1,692 crore.
Parliamentary Governor Mangubhai Patel and Chief Minister Mohan Yadav also addressed the programme.
Later, the president visited the famous Mahakaleshwar temple, one of the 12 'jyotirlings' of the country, and prayed before the deity in the sanctum sanctorum.
Murmu, along with the governor and CM, also cleaned the shrine premises with a broom and posed for a photograph with the main temple in the background.
Earlier in the day, Murmu planted a Kadamb (Bur flower) sapling on the campus of the more than two-century-old Kothi Residence in Indore.
Governor Patel and CM Yadav joined her and planted Rudraksh and Parijat saplings, respectively, on the premises, officials said.
