In New York, at the fourth edition of the Goalkeepers awards, Modi talks about India’s resolve to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi’s vision with the Swacch Bharat Mission
Prime minister Narendra Modi in the early hours of Wednesday, received the Goalkeepers award in New York from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) for his government’s commitment to sanitation, in the form of the Swacch Bharat Mission.
Accepting the award from Bill Gates, Modi said that he is doing so on behalf of the 130 crore people of India who owned the mission and lived it in their daily lives to make it a success, thus pulling up the rural sanitation share of India from 40% to 100% in just five years between 2014 and 2019.
“When I announced Swacch Bharat there were adverse comments but on the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, as I stand here to receive the award, I am doing so on behalf of 130 crore people who made sanitation a part of their lives. I am reminded of the old woman who sold her goats to build toilets in her village, the retired teacher who donated his entire pension and the married woman who sold her mangalsutra to build toilets,” Modi said.
“I am reminded of the old woman who sold her goats to build toilets in her village, the retired teacher who donated his entire pension and the married woman who sold her mangalsutra to build toilets”
Sanitation is the sustainable development goal number 6. On September 25, 2015, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, 193 world leaders committed to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals). These are a series of ambitious objectives and targets to achieve three extraordinary things by 2030: end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and fix climate change.
Goalkeepers is the BMGF’s campaign to accelerate progress towards the SDGs. By sharing stories and data behind the Global Goals through events and an annual report, the foundation hopes to inspire a new generation of leaders—Goalkeepers who raise awareness of progress, hold their leaders accountable, and drive action to achieve the Global Goals.
Among the other recipients of the award was 16-year-old Payal Jangid from Rajasthan who had rallied forces with the children of her village to make it free of child marriages. Payal is associated with the Bachpan Bachao Andolan.
