Wish fulfilment: 9-year-old lauds 'Swachh Bharat Mission' during interaction with PM Modi

By Payal Mehta
New Delhi [India], March 23 : It was a moment of wish fulfilment for 9-year-old Aryaveer Yadav on Thursday, as he got to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the flesh and tell him about the impact that the 'Swachh Bharat Mission', a flagship cleanliness campaign of the Centre pioneered by the latter, had on him and other children his age.
Aryaveer, the grandson of BJP MP from Bihar's Pataliputra, Ram Kripal Yadav, personally interacted with PM Modi in a rare informal meeting facilitated by his grandfather along with his family in Parliament.
According to sources, Aryaveer, a student of St Michael's school in Patna told Prime Minister Modi that taking inspiration from the 'Swachh Bharat Mission', he, as well as other children his age, have not only stopped littering in public but have also been ensuring that their immediate surroundings remain clean and tidy.
He told PM Modi that cleanliness has become part of their daily routine.
PM Modi is learnt to have been impressed with what the 9-year-old had to say about the Centre's flagship cleanliness drive that was launched in 2014.
This was young Aryaveer's second meeting with Prime Minister Modi, as the latter had his aunt's wedding in 2018. However, he was only a toddler at the time.
For his meeting with PM Modi, Aryaveer was accompanied by his younger brother and cousin, who were also delighted at the chance of interacting with one of the world's most popular leaders.
The Swachh Bharat Mission was launched on October 2, 2014, with an aim to make the country open defecation-free and also universal sanitation coverage.
Exhorting the people across the country to get involved in the cleanliness campaign, PM Modi said taking the campaign forward will be a giant towards fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi's dream of a clean India.