Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding an informal summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu. After a hectic first day where PM Modi and President Jinping discussed several issues ranging from trade to terrorism, Prime Minister Modi took a leisurely walk on a Mamallapuram beach and picked up trash that was strewn on the picturesque locale. “Plogging at a beach in Mamallapuram this morning. It lasted for over 30 minutes”, PM Modi tweeted.
https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1182863814217420806?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Prime Minister Modi, dressed in a casual T-Shirt and track pants took a walk on a beach of Mamallapuram. Mamallapuram is a village in the Kumbakonam taluk of Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India where the informal summit between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping is taking place.
While on a casual walk, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seen picking up the garbage strewn on the beach with his hands. The garbage was then collected in a trash bag and handed over to a hotel staffer called Jeyaraj. The beach appears to be the private beach of the resort PM Modi is staying in during the informal summit.
PM Modi took to Twitter to upload a 3-minute clip where he urged citizens to keep public places clean and tidy and also, remain fit and healthy.
‘Plogging’ is a Swedish fitness trend that encourages people to pick up litter while on a run or a walk. This not only encourages people to stay healthy and fit but also ensure that their surrounding is clean.
‘Swachh Bharat’ has been a pet project of the Prime Minister ever since he came to power in 2014 and his government, especially Minister Rajyavrdhan Singh Rathore also launched the #HumFitTohIndiaFit movement. ‘Plogging’ seems to be Prime Minister Modi’s way to encourage both essential movements at the same time.
Till March 2019, 93% of rural India had access to toilets under PM Modi’s Swachh Bharat movement and a total of 9 crore toilets were built by the Modi government.
“The survey was conducted between November 2018 and February 2019 and covered 92,040 households in 6,136 villages across States and Union Territories of India,” the drinking water and sanitation ministry said.
The findings of the survey were presented on Tuesday to an expert working group developed for the oversight of NARSS, comprising representatives from organisations including the World Bank, UNICEF, Water Aid, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, India Sanitation Coalition, Sulabh International, Knowledge Links, Niti Aayog, ministry of statistics and program implementation.