Jaipur, March 14 Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma launched a state-wide cleanliness pledge and awareness campaign on Saturday and offered "shramdaan" (selfless service) to promote public participation in sanitation efforts.
During the event, Sharma distributed PPE kits to sanitation workers of the municipal corporation and handed over symbolic cheques to beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi scheme.
He also administered a cleanliness pledge to people present at the venue and planted a sapling at Ram Niwas Garden.
Addressing the gathering, Sharma said the government will celebrate Rajasthan Day with enthusiasm across the state on March 19. He said the state was formally established on March 30, 1949, under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, coinciding with the Hindu New Year.
Traditionally, Rajasthan Day was celebrated on March 30 to mark the formation of the state, when various princely states were merged to create Greater Rajasthan. However, the BJP government has shifted the celebrations to Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, the first day of the Hindu month of Chaitra.
The chief minister said the celebrations this year will begin with cleanliness activities.
"The government aims to make Rajasthan not only economically prosperous, but also a leading state in cleanliness and public health. Rajasthan's heritage sites, forts, lakes, deserts and wildlife reserves attract a large number of tourists every year," he said.
He said that the vision of a developed India and developed Rajasthan by 2047 can be realised only if every home, street, park and monument remains clean. He said that more than 12 crore toilets have been built across the country under the mission, improving safety and dignity for women.
Sharma said the state government has organised several initiatives to involve people in cleanliness drives, including programmes at Jal Mahal and Mansarovar City Park.
Sharma said that under the rural component of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), about 2.78 lakh individual toilets and over 4,000 community toilets have been constructed in the state, and almost all villages in Rajasthan have been declared ODF (Open Defecation Free) Plus.
BJP state president Madan Rathore, Chief Secretary V Srinivas and other officials, along with sanitation workers and public representatives were present in the programme.
-- MNK