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‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2, on the 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Inspired by the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge which took the globe by a storm, Modi implemented the same concept for a better cause, i.e. of cleanliness of India. Not only he made everyone present at the event to pledge towards working towards a cleaner India, he also nominated nine prominent celebrities from all fields. If one would fancy his/her chances to name this team, the Indian Premier Cleaning League would be the most suitable name.
Channelising Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a clean India, Narendra Modi managed to rope in celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Anil Ambani, Swami Ramdev, Congress’ Shashi Tharoor, Goa governor Mridula Sinha, Kamal Hassan and the team of daily soap Taarak Mehta ka Oolta Chashma.
Almost every nominated celebrity participated sportingly and nominated other nine people to join the Swachh Bharat campaign. If the campaign takes-off as rapidly as ALS Challenge did, it will be soon that you will be the next person to be invited by your relative, friend or colleague. We take a look at the recent rage of ‘Safaai Abhiyaan’ initiated by Narendra Modi and carried forward by celebrities.
1. Sachin Tendulkar
Cricketing legend, Sachin Tendulkar took to the streets a week after Narendra Modi nominated him. Tendulkar said, “I have been entrusted the leadership role of Swachh Bharat campaign by Shri Narendra Modi. So, I am here along with my team and will clean this area.” The Little Master with a team of youngsters cleaned the area and also urged the people to come forward and work collectively. “It is just the start and we can move forward by doing better work,” said the Rajya Sabha member.
2. Salman Khan
Bhaijaan couldn’t resist himself as he gladly accepted Narendra Modi’s nomination to participate in the campaign. Salman Khan did his bit by cleaning an area in Karjat (Mumbai) on October 22. Along with him, Neil Nitin Mukesh was also seen wielding the broom. Salman even took the task of nominating nine other people, of which the list reads, “Facebook fans and Twitter followers, Aamir Khan, Azim Premji, Chanda Kochhar, Omar Abdullah, Pradeep Dhoot, Rajat Sharma, Rajinikanth and Vineet Jain.”
3. Anil Ambani
Business tycoon Anil Ambani also contributed in Narendra Modi’s initiative of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, by cleaning an area near Churchgate (Mumbai) station. Ambani said, “I dedicate myself to this movement and will invite nine other leading Indians to join me in the Clean India campaign.” Ambani’s nomination list includes; Mary Kom, Amitabh Bachchan, Sania Mirza, Shobhaa De, Shekhar Gupta, Prasoon Joshi, Hrithik Roshan, Nagarjuna and Runners Clubs of India.
4. Shashi Tharoor
Controversial Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also joined the cleanliness drive, but after a series of tweets (justifications). With the help of local residents, Tharoor pledged to clean the Vizhinjam Beach on October 25. A day before he took to cleaning, Tharoor tweeted, “Vizhinjam Beach, a splendid site ruined by filth & garbage, which I will clean w/local residents tomorrow 25/10 at 11 am.”
5. Swami Ramdev
Photo Credits: YouTube
Revered Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev hopped on the Clean India bandwagon October 16. Baba Ramdev along with Acharya Balkrishna began from an ashram in Kankhal (Haridwar) and went on to clean the streets of Har-Ki-Pauri area. Ramdev along with his followers did clean the stream of Ganga and pledged that the campaign will be continued at many more places across India.
6. Mridula Sinha
Mridula Sinha’s nomination came as a surprise as the governor of Goa was less-known. Sinha accepted the challenge by Narendra Modi and swept the streets of a locality nearby her office premises. Sinha along with Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and officials contributed to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. The Goa Governor nominated Kiran Bedi among eight other notable officials.
7. Kamal Hassan
Southern superstar Kamal Hassan thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to choose him to participate in Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. Hassan’s reaction was quite jubilant as he said that not only nine people should be nominated, but nine million. However, the nomination was left in sour taste as Hassan said the movement shouldn’t be a PR exercise and he along with his fan clubs have been doing this work for years.
8. Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma
The famous daily soap Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashmah team was also nominated by Narendra Modi. Famous actor Dilip Joshi and his team spread the cleanliness awareness in their show’s episodes and urged youth to come forward and work collectively.
9. Priyanka Chopra
The Bollywood diva Priyanka Chopra was also nominated by Narendra Modi to join the bandwagon of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. Unlike his Bollywood co-stars, Priyanka hasn’t accepted the nomination and not joined the Clean India Campaign. On one hand, the real Mary Kom took to the streets to join the sanitation drive, while on the other, the reel Mary Kom failed to impress. PeeCee is too busy, it seems.
If only the people of India take up the Swachh Bharat campaign with as much enthusiasm as they did to promote the ALS Ice Bucket challenge will the country go on to achieve the real initiative and Narendra Modi will be a real hero in his promise for a progressive nation. But the Swachh Bharat campaign works around the idea of taking a broom in the filthiest of places and making the practice fashionable.
Photo Credits: Jyoti Desale
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