Six ambassadors were named for the Cleanathon.
NDTV and Dettol together organised a 12-hour live televised Cleanathon on Sunday, which aims to bring together the entire nation for better sanitation and hygiene. The ambitious five-year campaign found praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This topic (sanitation) has been like a ghost in this country, everybody knows it's there, but nobody wants to name it. You (Prannoy Roy), in fact, named the ghost and you said what we need to do is to make toilets. We have already made an enormous amount of progress. We should identify people below the poverty line and get them to maintain the toilets. We need to figure out ways to get people to own and sustain this initiative.
Anand Mahindra, Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group
One toilet per home is where we are going. Let's think 5-10 years down the line. Rural India feels alienated. You need to give them a sense of ownership in such initiatives to make a difference.
Ronnie Screwvala, FOunder Trustee, Swades Foundation
It's my honour to be nominated by NDTV as the Swachh Ambassador. When I go to play tournaments abroad, I see those countries maintain cleanliness but I don't understand why India falls short when it comes to cleanliness. We should spread more awareness about proper hygiene and sanitation in villages across the nation. And the coming generation should take this Swachh Bharat initiative forward to make India a clean country.
Saina Nehwal, Arjuna Awardee and Badminton Player
Prime Minister has identified the right cause. I will be more than happy to work as a volunteer and in fact this is the positive multi-layer marketing idea that you keep nominating. Indian Railways is making new bio toilets and we are making sure that we call Research and Development Organization of Indian Railways and all scientific organizations of India as well as IITs to help with technological and monetary options to keep railways clean. Indian Railways is working on total cleaniless concept, which includes total quality management in terms of end-to-end solutions, including how you collect the waste disposal. Also, we are trying to create a new agency - rail housekeeping companies - who will ensure the toilets are clean.
Suresh Prabhu, Union Railway Minister
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is an initiative for the country, by the people, for the people. So everybody needs to come together for this. And it's also important to discuss how we can invite innovative ideas to make sure we complete the loop - disposal is as important as the fecal matter or waste. Through NDTV's Swachh India campaign, I would like to invite people to come up with ideas on how to make the cost of building a tiolet as low as possible, bio-degradable toilets, how we complete the cycle. Through the use of technology and social media we have to change the mindsets. Social media should be used to amplify the message of having proper hygiene and sanitation. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan's logo was crowd-sourced through government portals.
Arvind Gupta, National Head of BJP's IT Cell
How we effectively use the funds that central government allocates for this purpose makes the difference. During UPA, we had Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan and we saw how various states like Sikkim became an open defecation free state as they used that particular scheme. Then we also saw Uttarakhand building toilets. Gujarat could have effectively used Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan scheme to build toilets, but we see people defecate in open in Ahmedabad - 70,000 people every day. These are a few challenges, when we look beyond politics.
Priyanka Chaturvedi, Spokesperson, All India Congress Committee
Reckitt Benckiser is behind healthier lives and happier homes. The idea to make lives healthier inspires us to work better and innovate everyday. This is such an amazing opportunity for us to do something for our own country, making India hygienic. The contribution isn't just about cleaning or making a hygienic India, but an economically stronger India.
Rakesh Kapoor, Global CEO - Reckitt Benckiser
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