-Hindustan Times New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet Swachh Bharat initiative may be celebrating two years with much fanfare on Sunday but just a fifth of the respondents in a recent nationwide survey say local municipalities have improved garbage collection or cleanliness. The study found the hygiene has visibly improved in only four states – three of them ruled by the BJP while the rest of India reported marginal or no...

-The Hindu Kerala leads in household toilet coverage, three cities from Karnataka find place in the new list. Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh have the maximum percentage of villages that are ‘Open Defecation Free’ according to the criteria of the Swachh Bharat Mission. While the northeastern State scores a hundred per cent, as per the current tally, Himachal Pradesh scores 55.95 per cent. Other better performing States with village-level achievements are Haryana and Meghalaya with...

-PTI Invoking Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha against the colonial rule, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today mooted ‘Swachhagraha’ movement for a clean India which he said is not something that can be achieved by budget allocations alone. He also took a jibe at those who claim that the ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign launched by him has failed by showing pictures of garbage on roads and other places, saying at least there is awareness now on...

-The Hindu 450 young men and women have been selected as "lead motivators" to spread awareness on PM Modi’s flagship Swachh Bharat Mission. New Delhi: Aimed at sanitising six cities of the National Capital Region (NCR), the Ministry of Urban Development is coming up with a new campaign named ‘Asli Tarakki’ (real development), which will be replicated in other States if it succeeds. About 450 young men and women with “communication skills and...

-Outlook A crusader for Dalit rights, Bezwada Wilson, on reclaiming for the Dalits a life of human dignity in a structurally apathetic society. On many occasions, the Ramon Magsaysay Award has been bestowed on individuals of various ilks and ideological persuasions. For the first time, perhaps, it speaks to an issue that touches the lives of millions of people because an award for Bezwada Wilson (50) is an international acknowledgement of the...