Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was felicitated by the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation for his Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The Prime Minister, who currently is in the United States, was given the ‘Global Goalkeepers’ award on the sidelines of the United Nations. The Indian Prime Minister was given the award by Microsoft Founder, Bill Gates.
According to a report in the NDTV, the award is for “bring together leaders from around the world to accelerate progress for ending poverty and fighting inequality.”
The Prime Minister shared his achievement with his citizens who helped contribute to maintaining the cleanliness of the county. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched by the Indian Prime Minister in order to keep the cleanliness and better sanitation facilities. It managed to build over 11 crore toilets in a record five years.
The mass participation of the people was also acknowledged as the factors behind the success of the programme. In a report by India Today, the Prime Minister said that getting an award in the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as something personally significant to him.
Cleanliness has been a major issue in India. The Campaign was started as a means of dealing with Solid and Liquid waste management which was launched in 2014. Women’s health has been of grave concern for the society as many diseases are passed by flies breeding in an unhygienic and unclean environment.
According to a report in Outlook, the World Health Organisation had also acknowledged the government’s efforts in the campaign had improved the health facilities provided to the people.
Sanitation had been a major concern in rural areas, the building of toilets has led to a decrease in the worsening sanitation situation in the Rural areas. Leading to many women being susceptible to diseases. Which even the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation agreed upon.
This is also an acknowledgement of the government’s efforts in using the mass participation programme to ensure that it meets its objective. Efforts like ‘Fit India’ and ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ have been made with the specific ideas of using mass participation to attain objectives like maintaining the fitness levels in case of ‘Fit India’ and water conservation in case of ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’.