Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation‘s Global Goalkeepers award for his Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the Global Goalkeeper Award at tonight’s Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards. This award recognizes the progress India has made in providing safe sanitation under his leadership. pic.twitter.com/QSMD4UqxiU
— Gates Foundation (@gatesfoundation) September 25, 2019
On his felicitation with the international honor, PM Narendra Modi expressed his happiness and dedicated the award to the Indian population.
I dedicate the Global Goalkeeper Award, conferred by the @gatesfoundation, to the 130 crore people of India and the collective endeavours of our nation to improve cleanliness.
It makes me most happy that India’s successes in sanitation have helped women and children the most. pic.twitter.com/Va4QKMY3tv
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 25, 2019
The achievement of Narendra Modi has made his supporters very happy all over the world. Twitter was flooded with the congratulatory message. Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das congratulated the Prime Minister on Twitter.
अद्भुत, अद्वितीय, अनुकरणीय ।#SwachhBharatAbhiyaan के जरिए करोड़ों देशवासियों के जीवन मे सकारात्मक बदलाव लाने वाले देश के यशस्वी प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी को #GlobalGoalkeeperAward से सम्मानित होने पर हार्दिक बधाई और शुभकामनाएं। प्रत्येक हिंदुस्तानी को आप पर गर्व है। https://t.co/bA6VRwcTG3
— Raghubar Das (@dasraghubar) September 25, 2019
Union Minister Smriti Irani also extended her heartful greetings to the Prime Minister on his achievement.
#SwachhBharat has now become a way of life. The Global Goalkeeper Award by @gatesfoundation recognises India’s huge stride in the area of sanitation & cleanliness.
Congratulations to PM @narendramodi ji for his efforts towards fulfilling Gandhiji’s dream of a ‘Clean India’.
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) September 25, 2019
However, Sabah Hamid, a 42-year-old communications specialist with the Gates foundation expressed his displeasure on the honor being conferred to Modi. He quit his organization as he believes that it is a grave error to award Modi with an honor when Kashmir is in lockdown state. (To know more about his stand, click here.)
Previously on the announcement of the news of award being conferred to Modi, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) economic wing Swadeshi Jagran Manch urged the prime minister to forfeit the award. Swadeshi Jagran Manch claimed that the Gates foundation was found to be involved in pursuing business under the cover of philanthropy.
Earlier, Narendra Modi was also awarded with ‘Order of Zayed’ by the UAE Government.
Global Goalkeeper’s Award-
The award is felicitated annualy by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to celebrate the efforts of individuals who have worked hard towards a specific sustainable development goal.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan-
PM Modi launched the “Clean India initiative” in 2014, during his first tenure. The project was launched as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. It is a nation-wide campaign aiming to clean up the streets, roads, cities and rural areas. According to the latest government data, 89 percent of houses in villages are now equipped with sanitary toilets. The mission aims to achieve an “open-defecation free” (ODF) India by 2nd October 2019.
ALSO READ: PM Modi expresses happiness over the featuring of Statue of Unity in TIME’s Magazine