Swachhta hi Seva or Cleanliness as Service was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 11, 2019. This programme stresses on plastic waste awareness and management’. Swachhta hi Seva is a massive nationwide awareness and mobilization campaign on Swachhta (Cleanliness) and was being organized from September 11 up to October 2, 2019. PM Modi had set the goal of making India Open Defecation Free (ODF) by October 2, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). The campaign involved a nationwide free labour for plastic waste collection and segregation on October 2. The collected plastic waste will then be recycled and effectively disposed before Diwali, which is on October 27, 2019.
After the launch of Swachhta hi Seva 2019, PM Modi visited the Pashudhan Arogya Vigyan Mela, where cows were being operated to remove plastic waste from their stomachs. The Prime Minister also interacted with a group of women from Uttar Pradesh who segregate plastic waste into recyclables and non-recyclables and also participated in the segregation activity himself.
The Prime Minister urged all citizens to rid their house, offices and work spaces from single-use plastic. He drew people’s attention to the hazardous effects of single-use plastic on the environment and the health of animals and aquatic life. He appealed to people to use cloth or jute bags while going out shopping and use metal or earthen glasses for serving water in offices. The Prime Minister also asked people to collect all plastic waste from their surroundings at an identified place and ensure its proper disposal with the support of the local administration.
In Meghalaya, the Block Development Office has been tasked with collecting all plastic waste and single use plastic items from the residents under each Dorbar Shnong. Many of the Dorbars had carried out this task faithfully and shopkeepers within such Dorbar Shnong were also told to stop giving plastic carry bags and to look for alternatives. While many shop-owners have switched to paper bags and have also asked their clients to bring their own cloth bags, there are others who continue to dole out plastic bags on the plea that they still have old stock of plastics with them. The Government of Meghalaya has yet to issue an official ban on single use plastics. So far this has only been an appeal. It is the Khasi Hills District Council which in fact had banned single use plastics since September this year, but this ban applies only in areas under the jurisdiction of the Council. However, such areas are more expansive than the areas under the Municipality. Hence the onus is with the KHADC for stricter vigilance to ensure that the ban on plastics is effective.