Swachh Bharat Mission Boosts Prosperity and Dignity for Poor and Women: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked 10 years of the Swachh Bharat Mission, highlighting its role in generating jobs and enhancing dignity for the poor and women. He emphasized the mission's success in reducing open defecation, improving hygiene, and saving lives, while also contributing to employment through cleanliness-linked start-ups and water reuse projects.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized that the Swachh Bharat Mission has transcended beyond cleanliness, becoming a driver of prosperity by creating jobs and improving the dignity of the poor and women. Celebrating 10 years of the mission, Modi credited millions of Indians for making it a public movement and hailed it as the "world’s biggest and most successful people’s revolution."

Modi highlighted the mission's impact on employment, with UNICEF estimating that 13.5 million people have benefited from toilet construction. He also underscored the mission’s role in improving hygiene, reducing child mortality, and addressing the dangers of open defecation, particularly for women. Citing WHO data, he noted that the mission has saved 300,000 lives between 2012 and 2019, with 90% of women feeling safer due to toilets at home.

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The Prime Minister praised the mission's impact in areas like Gorakhpur, where cleanliness efforts have helped curb encephalitis outbreaks. He added that the mission has linked 5,000 start-ups to cleanliness and water reuse, creating a circular economy expected to generate 6.5 million new jobs.