AHMEDABAD: Prime MinisterNarendra Modion Wednesday set 2022 as the year by when to achieve the target of freeing India of single-use plastic. The PM also declared Indiaopen defecationfree (ODF).
“Cleanliness, environment protection and safety of living beings were close to the Mahatma. Plastic poses a major threat to all three, ”Modi said. He was addressing thousands of sarpanches and cleanliness champions at the launch of “Swachh Bharat Divas” to mark the 150 th birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi.
“Thus, we have to achieve the target of getting the country free of single-use plastic by 2022. In the past three weeks alone, 20, 000 tons of plastic was collected as part of “Swachhata hi Sewa (Cleanliness is Service) initiative,” the PM said. “The use of plastic carry bags is also decreasing rapidly.”
The PM invoked Gandhi and former PMLal Bahadur Shastri, who shares his birth anniversary with the Mahatma, to underline that change begins from the self.
Earlier, PM Narendra Modi said India’s clout on the world stage was growing.
The Prime Minister also said that after the “Howdy Modi” event inHouston, when he requested the United States PresidentDonald Trumpfor a victory lap, without hesitating for a moment and without caring for security, Trump, hand-in-hand with him, walked around the entire stadium.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings