Cleanliness mission where every citizen is a safai mitra

I still recall the moment in 2014 when Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi picked up a broom and swept a Delhi street. It was far more than symbolism: It was a powerful reminder that the mission of a clean India cannot rest solely on the government but must be embraced by every citizen.

- Manohar Lal Khattar

A clean India is a shared responsibility, and the true strength of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) has been how it has turned cleanliness into a people's movement. It has turned every citizen into a safai mitra (friend of cleanliness) — from school students to homemakers, shopkeepers to farm and factory workers. Millions picked up the broom, transforming cleanliness from a government programme into a personal pledge of dignity, health, and pride.

That single vision sparked a true jan andolan (people's movement), where cleanliness became a matter of honour and pride. PM Modis calls of na gandagi karenge, na karne denge (neither will we create filth nor will we let anyone create filth) and swachhata hi seva (cleanliness is service) inspired citizens across the country to act. What began as a government-led mission soon turned into the pride of every street, every neighbourhood, and every home, driven by an extraordinary wave of behavioural change.

In 2014, less than 40% of households had toilets. Today, more than 12 crore families have access to sanitation. Through the Swachh Bharat Mission, India has been declared open-defecation-free (ODF). The slogan Har Ghar Shauchalaya (a toilet in every home) is no longer just a promise, it is a reality, bringing safety and dignity to millions of women and children, along with improved health. The World Health Organization estimates that the lives of nearly 300,000 children have been saved because of reduced diseases linked to open defecation. The mission has now moved on to sustaining the ODF status and introducing comprehensive solid and liquid waste management, scientific processing of waste. The vision for SBM-Urban 2.0 is to achieve garbage-free status by institutionalising and nudging swachh (clean) behaviour amongst the citizens.