Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (clean India Drive)

Swachh Bharat or Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Campaign Clean India) is a national level campaign by the Government of India covering 4041 statutory towns to clean the streets, roads and infrastructure of the country.

This campaign was officially launched on 2 October 2014 at Rajghat, New Delhi, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself wielded broom and cleaned a road. The campaign is India's biggest ever cleanliness drive and 3 million government employees and schools and colleges students of India participated in this event. The mission was started as a tree with each of the nine personalities nominated by Narendra Modi to in turn nominate nine other people and so on. It has been carried forward since then with famous people from all walks of life joining it.

I am honoured to be invited by our respected Prime Minister Shri Narendrabhai Modi to join the "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan". . . I dedicate myself to this movement and will invite nine other leading Indians to join me in the "Clean India" campaign. . .On 2 October, Anil Ambani, an Indian industrialist and a participant in this event, told in a statement—^[8]Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was announced by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 15 Aug 2014, Indian Independence Day & launched on 2 Oct 2014, Gandhi Jayanti. On this day, Modi addressed the citizens of India in a public gathering held at Rajpath, New Delhi, India and asked everyone to join this campaign. Later on this day, Modi himself swept a parking area at Mandir Marg Police Station followed by pavement in Valmiki Basti, a colony of sanitation workers, at Mandir Marg, near Connaught Place, New Delhi.

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee asked every Indian to spend 100 hours annually in this drive. This campaign is supported by the Indian Army, Border Security Force, Indian Air Force and India.

This campaign aims to accomplish the vision of 'Clean India' by 2 October 2019, 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi and is expected to cost over 62000 crore (US$10 billion).^[ The campaign was described as "beyond politics" and "inspired by patriotism".

More than 3 million government employees and schools and colleges students of India are going to participate in this event.

Modi selected nine notable public figures to propagate this campaign: 

• Amitabh Bachchan
• Anil Ambani
• Sachin Tendulkar
• Salman Khan
• Priyanka Chopra
• Baba Ramdev
• Kamal Hassan
• Mridula Sinha
• Shashi Tharoor
• The team of TV series Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah

Indian film actor Aamir Khan supported and encouraged this initiative and told that he would be happy if he is invited into this campaign. Urban Development Minister, M. Venkaiah Naidu, picked up the broom to clean cyclone-hit port city of Visakhapatnam in southern state of Andhra Pradesh, as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cleanliness campaign

A 'Swachh Bharat Run' was organized at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on 2 October 2014. According to a statement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan around 1500 people participated and the event was flagged off by President Pranab Mukherjee. Participants in the run included officers and sice, as well as their families.