Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of India Today Group, delivered the keynote address at the third edition of the Safaigiri Awards today.
Here is the full text of his speech:
Honourable Vice President, Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome.
Throughout the day, we’ve had our Safaigiri champions with inspiring stories of their contribution to the Swachh Bharat Campaign. It’s been a heart warming and learning experience for me.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited me to be a Swachhata Ambassador in 2014, I didn’t realise the journey would be so exhilarating and rewarding.
I was your garden variety Indian, complaining about widespread dirt and uncommon filth and doing very little about it. I am ashamed to say that we had all gone immune and blind to the indignity of open defecation till Prime Minister Modi in his first Independence Day speech brought it front and centre of the national discourse.
He united all of us to be part of a people’s movement. It stirred our consciences and kick-started our activities. It set the India Today Group on a mission to be part of this movement and make a difference.
We decided to do what the media does best. Influence minds and if done right, inspire people. Three years ago, we introduced the Safaigiri Summit and Awards, disseminated the importance of changing mindsets. The purpose was to recognise the good work done by people in Swachhta and inspire others. We have realised, as has the government, that building toilets is only half the story. Ensuring their usage is more important. The numbers have been encouraging. Government data shows that open defecation has been reduced by almost 30 per cent, from 69 per cent to 38 per cent in three years.
This is great progress but not enough. Other countries have achieved higher goals, most notably Bangladesh which went from 42 per cent open defecation in 2003 to almost none now, and Ethiopia which reduced open defecation from 92 per cent in 1990 to 29 per cent in 2015. We’ve also added this year awards for the Best Asian Government Cleanliness Initiative and Best Global Cleanliness Initiative to show how it can be done.
But the challenges in India are far more complex. India is culturally diverse, it is more densely populated, there is scarcity of water, and there is stigma associated with emptying pits which even Mahatma Gandhi could not help us erase.
Above all, there is a gender imbalance in the communication. Women who are the biggest sufferers from the lack of toilets, can be the most effective agents of change.
This is why we introduced a new segment in our awards ceremony this year–that of Swachhata hi Seva champions. All women, who have transformed their households or communities in some way or the other. Today we saw on stage these marvellous women who have dedicated their lives to Swachhata.
Lack of sanitation is a silent killer which stunts growth of children (diarrhoea itself kills 100,000 children every year) and causes loss of dignity and security to women. It is estimated that it causes a loss of six per cent to the GDP every year.
The possibilities of what India can do if there is no open defecation are tremendous. Some of this change is beginning to be seen in public policy. Waste is no longer seen as a burden but as a resource, a business opportunity. Visual cleanliness is being encouraged with the village swachhata index allowing self rating with an increasingly extensive questionnaire.
Technology is being deployed effectively to monitor and verify change, through government apps made in collaboration with enterprising NGOs. More than that, corporations and foundations are joining together in making it a genuine people’s movement. We ourselves have built nearly 2,000 toilets.
I liked what the Vadodara Municipal Commissioner, Vinod Rao, said earlier today. He and his team have done a marvellous job in cleaning Vadodara and is one of our awardees. He said: “Cleaning a city is like running a race without a finishing line.” He added, “There were three most important things to remember for a campaign to be a success: Public awareness, public awareness and public awareness.” Let’s give him a round of applause.
While we all continue our campaign for Swachhta, we have to, I believe, remember a few things:
#1. Swachhata has to be sustainable
Building toilets is not enough. We need to ensure these toilets are used and not just for now, but always. Sanitation is a habit not a fad.
#2. Swachhata has to be collective
A country as vast as India can never be clean if swachhata is an individual activity. India is renowned for what John Kenneth Galbraith called private affluence and public squalor.
#3. Swachhata has to be measurable
One of the great management gurus said: “if you want to change something, start by measuring it first.” Whether it is the status of open defecation in the country or the visual cleanliness of a village or city, there has to be an index that updates it. Otherwise lapsing into bad habits is all too easy.
#4. Everyone is a Swachhagrahi
The government has started a volunteer scheme where 2.5 lakh volunteers or trained motivators now go from village to village talking about cleanliness. It’s something we can all practise in our lives.
#5. Swachhata is a skill
In an era of declining skills, we must remember the mission to clean India can become a big job creator–for instance India has a huge shortage of trained masons for twin pit toilets, the most environmentally friendly technology for rural areas.
#6. Swachhata can also be a friendly competition
All of us should compete to be cleaner than the other, whether it is at the level of village, district or city. If this means many more entries for Safaigiri Awards next year, that will be most welcome.
#7. Swachhata is forever
Even if we manage to achieve the goal of making India free of open defecation by 2019, the fight against dirt must continue.
Prime Minister in his three years has done many major reforms but I believe his greatest legacy will be his Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. For that, the nation should be grateful to him.
We are honoured that he’s sent us a message for this occasion. He’s also tweeted his 35 million followers his congratulations to the Safaigiri awardees.
Despite declining GDP numbers, simmering social resentments and angry young people on campuses, our swachhata champions give me great hope for India’s future. As I hope they give you.
It is now my privilege to introduce our Honourable Vice President, Shri Venkaiah Naidu.
Honouring these champions is a man who knows the often harsh realities of India. India’s new Vice President grew up in a village, a farmer’s son in Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh.
He was here last year as Minister for Urban Development, which was one of the nodal ministries in the Swachh Bharat Mission, and knows the challenges to sanitation in India’s cities and towns. But like Prime Minister Modi, he has an optimistic nature, and knows that if much has to be done, a lot has also been achieved.
His own life is a study in possibilities–from a young student leader whose job was to put up posters of stalwarts Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani, to president of the BJP, to minister with multiple and equally important portfolios, Mr Vice President has always been invaluable to his leadership. When he was elevated to this position, he had said: There is no my party or your party. Now I am a non party man.
That is the spirit with which the mission to clean India has to be viewed. As one of our winners has said: We are the problem and we are the solution. I am sure Mr Vice President, you will agree with that. Also, despite your elevation, I hope, your witticisms for which you are famous for have stayed with you. Welcome.
India Today
