Hope to make India clean before October 2: LS Speaker Om Birla

Hoping to make the country clean before the upcoming 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla continued the special cleanliness drive in the Parliament premises for the second day on Sunday along with several MPs and Union Ministers.

"Mahatma Gandhi did not only start the independence movement. He also started the cleanliness movement. We hope to achieve that dream before the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma. For that, we are imparting the message of cleanliness from the Parliament," said Birla.

BJP MPs Manoj Tiwari, Hans Raj Hans, Mahesh Sharma, and Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' were also seen sweeping the premises. The Lok Sabha Speaker also visited different floors of the Parliament House, Parliament House Annexe and its extension building to oversee the progress.

"Swachhta is not merely the cleanliness of our surroundings. We also need to clean our minds and souls. Prime Minister Narendra had started this campaign by picking up a broom himself," Pokhriyal said.

The Lok Sabha Speaker had launched a two-day long special cleanliness drive in the Parliament House Estate on Saturday. For this purpose, the Parliament House Estate was divided into seven sectors.

"Any social work cannot be fulfilled as long as the people themselves don't participate. Station is economically and socially good for the people," said Mahesh Sharma.

Prime Minister Modi had launched the Swachh Bharat Mission at the Rajpath in New Delhi in 2014 to achieve the vision of a 'Clean India' by October 2, 2019.

( With inputs from ANI )