Ministry of Jal Shakti celebrates Swachh Bharat Diwas, 2020 on occasion of Gandhi Jayanti with the distribution of Swachh Bharat Puraskar

The Swachh Bharat Diwas, 2020 was celebrated today on occasion of Gandhi Jayanti with the distribution of Swachh Bharat Puraskar by the Ministry of Jal Shakti. The Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Rattan Lal Kataria conferred the Swachh Bharat (2020) Awards to the best performing States/UTs, districts, blocks, GPs and others in various categories and campaigns today marking six years of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) launch. The awards were given at a virtual ceremony organized by Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) and saw the online participation by Central, State and district Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBMG) officials.

Top Awards were conferred upon Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab& others. Gujarat was felicitated with the first prize in the state category, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu as best district, Khachrod, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh as best block and Chinnaur, (Salem) as the best Gram Panchayat for Swachh Sundar Samudayik Shauchalaya (SSSS) campaign organized from 1st Nov 2019 to 30th April 2020. For Samudayik Shauchalaya Abhiyan (SSA) held from 15th June to 15th Sep 2020, top awards went to Uttar Pradesh (GKRA) and Gujarat (Non-GKRA) in State category, Prayagraj (GKRA) and Bareilly (Non-GKRA) in district category and Borigaon, Bongaigaon, Assam received the best GP award.

For the week-long Gandagi Se Mukt (GMB) campaign launched by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on 8th August 2020, Telangana received the top award for maximum Shramdaan participation, Haryana was felicitated with the top award for declaring maximum ODF Plus villages and Moga district, Punjab received the top award for maximum IEC messages through wall paintings. In addition to this, various awards were given in multiple categories. (Click here for full list of awardees)

In his address, Union Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that under the guidance and leadership of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, the SBMG has transformed rural India by manifesting into a Jan Andolan for sanitation achieving Open Defecation Free (ODF) rural India milestone in mission mode well before time. Taking forward the extraordinary success, Phase II of the SBM (G) has been launched early this year, which focuses on ODF sustainability and Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) aiming at comprehensive cleanliness in villages. He mentioned that mass campaigns like SSSS, SSA, and GMB organized over last one year are complimenting the efforts for achieving ODF Plus objectives with stress on community toilets and SLWM. Shri Shekhawat said that the awards being given today are recognition to worthy contributions made by community members for boosting the People’s movement.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Rattan Lal Kataria, Minister of State, applauded the efforts of all stakeholders associated with SBM for making it a remarkable journey since 2014 and world’s largest behaviour change programme. He congratulated the awardees for making a significant contribution in improving sanitation and cleanliness standards in their villages and urged everyone to continue working with the same spirit in SBM Phase 2 as well which focuses on the bigger goal of ODF Plus. Shri Kataria said that with the mass awareness and enthusiasm which we are witnessing towards this campaign, the ODF+ targets will also be achieved quickly.

Secretary, DDWS, Ministry of Jal Shakti Shri U P Singh, complimented all the states SBMG teams for making a significant contribution in Phase 1 of SBMG and stressed that goals outlined under Phase 2 are more important w.r.t sustainability and comprehensive cleanliness. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, Shri Singh said that today a great human being was born who not only got us our Independence but also taught us the importance of cleanliness in our lives.

The occasion observed the screening of Swachh Bharat Diwas 2020 short film and launch of the e-book on Samudayik Shauchalaya Abhiyan (SSA) & Swachh Sundar Samudayik Shauchalaya (SSSS) campaign, followed by the Swachh Bharat Diwas Awards distribution. Over 50,000 Community Toilet Complexes (CSCs) were constructed under these campaigns over the last one year for improving the universal access of safe sanitation facilities in rural India. Under the Gandagi Mukt Bharat (GMB) painting and essay competition, more than 24.4 Lakh students participated. Also under GMB, 8.48 Lakh IEC messages were painted on walls and billboards.

Click here to view the Swachh Bharat Diwas (SBD) 2020 e-book