Topic: - Gandhi Ji and Idea 

(Concept) of Clean India 

Many voices were heard after the Prime Minister of India in his extempore
speech on the 15th August 2014 on Independence Day spoke of 'Swachh Bharat'.
Independence Day speech of the Prime Minister of India carries a message not only for
the countrymen but is also a statement to the international community too, being
widely reported across the world. The message in the speech was loud and clear. On
Mahatma Gandhi's birthday 2nd October 2014, the campaign was launched with
much fanfare. Mahatma Gandhi, whom the nation had relegated to archives, came
alive on his birthday this year.

Many have appeared on the print and electronic media, holding a broom for a few
minutes shown sweeping the already sanitized streets in ’swachh uniforms'. These
swachh uniforms remained spotlessly swachh after the ritual was over. The 'elite
sweepers' were smilingly sweeping in the company of dozens of other men and women,
when photographed. Sweeping public places is a very tedious and back breaking
business; it is no smiling business, since sweeping public places brings forth dust
allergy, running nose, watery eyes and smelling uniforms. And why our public
spirited men and women should sweep only ’symbolically’; why not as a daily
routine, if they took the pledge to clean India in earnest and with conviction.

Swachh Bharat scheme is launched with Mahatma Gandhi as its inspiration. I

wonder, how many people have read what Gandhi has to say on the subject? This brief
write up below is but a glimpse of some of Gandhi's views on cleanliness and how he
personally went about doing it with no camera in attendance.
This essay contains several thoughts and anecdotes from Gandhi’s life, extracted from
several books, including his Autobiography. This write up may work as a refresher on
the subject topic.

The first glimpse of Gandhi’s rejection of Hindu orthodoxy finds mention in his
Autobiography, when he questions his mother, who forbade him to touch an
'untouchable'. He was instructed to have a bath if he had touched an untouchable in
his school or seek out a Muslim and touch him, for two 'untouchables' cancel each
other in impurity. Once, a scavenger by name Uka, whose duty included clearing out
night soil of the house hold and clean the court yard came in physical contact with
him, which his mother saw from a window. He was asked to go through the ritual of
cleansing himself. Young Mohandas remonstrated and argued and quoted passages
from scriptures stating that the sacred scriptures did not approve of treating some
human beings as untouchables. Though he would have to obediently comply with the
orders of his mother or other elders, his inner being never accepted their logic of some
being treated as 'untouchables'. He would argue with his elders but he would do their
bidding, reluctantly. The rebellious spirit would grow stronger with the advancing
years, till it became the voice of his conscience, transforming itself as the voice of the
nation. (Reference: Speech at Suppressed Classes Conference, Ahmedabad, Young
India (27.4.1921 and 4.5.1921) CWMG 19:570

In the last

It is just not about cleanliness, it’s about people. Some people are privileged that they
don’t have to go and clean sewages. We clean our house, then why not roads,
sewages.We can throw them on roads and expect sweepers, cleaners to clean it.Then,
WHY concept of UNTOUCHABILITY. This concept is past but we are not ready to let
go of it. Why? Because we do not want to maintain cleanliness. Poor were
untouchable because of their work. But they clean our places sewages, roads, and
etc.But if we use dustbins, vans which come to collect waste, and then every purpose is
solved. THE WORD UNTOUCHBLE WOULD GO AWAY. This is what Gandhiji
would have wanted. Each piece of great work starts from small initiative. So, on this
day, Oct 2 2020, let’s decide Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi, we will not let you
down, our small work would do fulfill yours and our dream of SWACH BHARAT.

“SWACHH BHARAT KA IRADA, IRADA KAR LIA HUMNE, DESH SE APNA WADA,
YE WADA KAR LIA HUMNE”.

JAI HIND.