Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said re-use and recycling of waste should be technology driven and insisted that there should a focus on the concept of “waste to wealth” so that revenue models could be developed around cleanliness.

“Re-use and recycling have been our habits for a long time...these need to be made more technology-driven so that we can create wealth from waste,” Mr. Modi said during his inaugural address at the India Sanitation Conference here.

Mr. Modi said garbage can be used as a means to create employment and wealth by recycling and then, cleanliness will become a by-product.

“While no one likes dirt or dirty surroundings, the habit of cleanliness takes some effort to develop. Let’s join hands and start a ‘Swachhagraha’ — an initiative for cleanliness to get the country dirt-free on the lines of Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Satyagraha’ that freed us from British rule,” said Mr. Modi.

Mr. Modi said children are increasingly conscious about issues regarding cleanliness.This shows that the Swachhta Abhiyan is touching people’s lives.

“A healthy competition is now developing among cities and towns for promoting cleanliness,” he added.

“Cleanliness is not something to be achieved by budget allocations. It is rather, something that should become a mass movement,” stressed the PM.

Source: The Hindu