Imphal: Chief Minister N. Biren Singh launched the Swachhata Hi Seva 2024 campaign in a modest ceremony held at the Cabinet Hall of the Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Tuesday. The event was organized by the Department of Municipal Administration, Housing, and Urban Development (MAHUD), Government of Manipur.
Swachhata Hi Seva, part of the Swachh Bharat Mission, aims to foster greater public involvement and emphasize that sanitation is everyone’s responsibility. The initiative also coincides with the conclusion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations through a nationwide cleanliness drive.
During the launch, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh highlighted that the campaign stems from the people’s desire for a dignified life in a clean and robust India, including Manipur. He expressed optimism that Swachh Bharat Campaigns, organized annually with renewed enthusiasm, would contribute to the nation and state’s progress.
The Chief Minister elaborated on the five key categories of Swachhata Hi Seva 2024:
- Cleanliness Target Units (Black Spot Cleaning)
- Public Participation and Awareness (Swachhata Mein Jan Bhagidari)
- Preventive Health Checkups and Social Security (Safai Mitras Suraksha Shivirs)
- Mass Cleanliness Drives (Shramdhaan)
- Swachh Bharat Diwas 2024.
He emphasized the importance of public participation, noting that the campaign’s success relies on collective effort. The initiative also focuses on providing frontline sanitation workers with adequate medical and financial support, including free health checkups and PPE kits.
N. Biren Singh urged citizens to set aside differences and join the cleanliness drive, seeing it as a civic duty to maintain cleanliness in the country and state.
Additionally, he appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the Ministry of Home Affairs’ initiative to provide essential goods to the people of Manipur at affordable prices through Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandars. He announced the opening of 16 new Bhandars, in addition to the existing 21.
Commissioner MAHUD, M. Joy, in his welcome address, explained that Swachhata Hi Seva 2024 has been launched nationwide, including in Manipur. He mentioned that the theme for this year’s campaign is “Swabhav Swachhata, Sanskar Swachhata”, meaning cleanliness is nature and culture. Achieving this vision, he emphasized, requires voluntary and collective support from all communities, focusing on both the valley and hill districts.
The event was attended by Ministers, Members of Parliament, MLAs, administrative officials, and MAHUD department representatives, among others.
