Govt to celebrate Swachh Bharat Diwas on Monday

NEW DELHI: The third anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission will be celebrated as "Swachh Bharat Diwas" on Monday. Though official invitation and billboards have been put in the national capital to celebrate the day as Swachh Bharat Diwas, sanitation ministry officials said there is no question of giving any other name to Gandhi Jayanti.

"Gandhi Jayanti remains Gandhi Jayanti and it can never be changed. The celebration is only to mark the three year completion of the mission," drinking water and sanitation secretary Parameswaran Iyer told TOI. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the chief guest of the event to mark the culmination of 15 days intensive Swachhta drive.

October 2 is also celebrated as the International Day of Non-Violence. On June 15, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly had voted for this.

Sources said since Gandhiji was the biggest advocate of cleanliness and sanitation, the campaign was launched three years back on his birthday. The government has maintained that Swachh Bharat will be the biggest tribute to Gandhiji.

Following PM's call for a fortnight long cleanliness drive, several events and activities have been undertaken in the past two weeks. Though government had not officially given any name to Modi's birthday (September 17), BJP had observed it as Seva Diwas.