Engaging the citizenry, addressing the reduction of waste and improving the processing of waste would be a winning strategy to achieve a state of cleanliness, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday.
“Gandhiji’s vision must lead us through the challenges of the present towards a clean, green and self-sufficient Bharat,” he said at the inauguration of an international seminar on ‘Clean and Capable India of Gandhi’s Dream’ in New Delhi.
Seminar objectiveThe two-day seminar aims to throw insights on the conceptualisation, evolution and manifestation of Gandhi’s concepts of clean and capable India for wider dissemination.
The Make-in-India campaign also envisages turning Gandhiji’s dream of a self-sufficient and productive India into a reality, Mukherjee said.
He added that a comprehensive strategy is required to usher in a world-class manufacturing set-up in the country which could look at a facilitatory governance mechanism, building of smart cities and industrial clusters, development of specialised skills in the youth, and establishment of dedicated freight corridors for improved connectivity.
Changing India’s image“Advanced and environmentally-sensitive manufacturing companies should be encouraged to make them an important part of the global value-chain. Overall, Make-in-India should lead to an attitudinal shift in how India relates to investors: not as a permit-issuing authority but as a true business partner,” the President said. Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu, who also spoke at the seminar, said that the Centre is keen to make the Swachh Bharat Mission into a ‘Swachhagraha’ movement with people’s participation to make the country clean in the next five years.