Cleanliness and tree planting drives mark PM's birthday in Capital

Observing the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, volunteers from the group 'We Mean to Clean' planted 600 trees in the national Capital on Sunday. The group was a part of several cleanliness volunteers and NGOs, who enthusiastically dedicated themselves to 'shramdaan' (effort donation) towards cleanliness initiatives. The day was observed as 'Seva Divas'.

The 'We Mean to Clean' group had earlier transformed a slum in Kirti Nagar.

During a recent 'Mann Ki Baat' address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed to the nation to dedicate the last few weeks of September towards Swachhata hi seva (cleanliness is service), an initiative to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.

Swachhata hi seva is fast becoming a massive people-run movement, with many grassroots organisations featuring in the overall Swachh Bharat programme.

Meanwhile, on September 15, 2017, President Ram Nath Kovind launched the Swachhata hi seva movement in Uttar Pradesh, from a village in Kanpur. Also, while Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu was seen administering the pledges to citizens, Governor of Rajasthan, Kalyan Singh, was seen picking up the broom himself to clean his office.

Citizens were also seen cleaning the Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station in Delhi on Sunday. On social media as well, #SwachhataHiSeva was one of the top trends for the day.