Clean India Campaign: India generated over 34 lakh tonnes of plastic waste in 2019-2020 (File)
The government will launch an innovative month-long campaign to collect and remove 75 lakh kilograms of single-use plastic waste from across the country to marking India's 75th year of Independence and Mahatma Gandhi's 152nd birthday anniversary. Announcing the "Clean India Campaign", Anurag Thakur, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, said the programme will begin tomorrow - the eve of Gandhi Jayanti.
"I urge all of you - self-help groups, clubs, organisations, individuals, and institutions - to join us from October 1 to 31 in this Clean India programme to make India free of plastic waste," Mr Thakur said. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has regularly urged people to join the Swachh Bharat Mission.
The Bureau of Outreach and Communication, under the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, shared a post on Twitter calling on people to join this campaign. The post also carried a quote by Mahatma Gandhi - "Sanitation is more important than independence."
According to the Ministry of Environment, India generated over 34 lakh tonnes of plastic waste in 2019-2020, an increase of more than 10 lakh tonnes compared to 2017-18.
The Swachh Bharat Mission aims to inspire people to adopt behaviours that put sanitation at the centre of lifestyle. The mission is now moving towards its second phase to reinforce those behaviours and focus on providing interventions for the safe management of solid and liquid waste in villages.