President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday presented the most effective Swachchta Ambassador award to legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The award was presented at Safaigiri Summit orgsed by a private news channel here in National Capital.
Speaking on the occasion, Kovind said that in the last five years, the station drive launched in the country had truly become a mass movement.
"Everyone from Prime Minister to Gram Pradhan has participated directly or indirectly in the cleanliness campaign to make it a success. This historic success could not have been achieved without the participation of every citizen," he said.
Referring to India being declared as open defecation free (ODF) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said that it would be a real tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his birth anniversary.
"Though the United Nation had set sustainable development goals to be achieved by 2030, India would be completing it 11 years ahead of the schedule. For this feat, every citizen of the country deserved appreciation," he said.
The President referred to cleanliness as a continuous process which he said needs to be sustained all the time.
"We should not be lax in our efforts by being satisfied with our achievements," he said urging people to develop a competitive model of cleanliness at the village, block and district levels across the country to make further improvement in the cleanliness drive.
He said that on the basis of five years of achievement, the country must strive to achieve the goal of ODF plus by introducing technology in a cleanliness campaign.
"Let us make the cleanliness integral to our collective social life to build a prosperous nation. We have to develop thinking in which everyone will strive to make his house, street, village, town or city as the cleanest and beautiful," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )