Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a cleaning sesson at Varanasi's Assi Ghat. (Press Trust of India)
Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Andhra Pradesh are in the forefront of generating awareness about the Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas.
Of the 15 States and Union Territories that have undertaken awareness campaign in urban areas at the behest of the Urban Development (UD) Ministry, these six States have emerged as lead performers.
Under the awareness generation campaign launched, 1,129 urban local bodies from 15 States and UTs have organized quiz contests to sensitise students about the Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas and also the need for cleanliness, during the last week, said a senior UD Ministry official.
A total of 3,53,788 students from 14,141 schools and colleges have participated in the competition.
Karnataka led the campaign with the participation of 96,524 students in the competition followed by Delhi (47,000), Tamil Nadu (45,650), Madhya Pradesh (45,302), Goa (35,000) and Andhra Pradesh (30,871).
A total prize money of Rs 54.95 lakhs has been distributed to the winners of the quiz competition. The next round of competition will be held in the first week of August.
While 15,431 students had participated from Gujarat, 7083 students from Maharashtra, 5000 from Punjab, 4000 from Jammu and Kashmir, 2476 students had joined the competition from Haryana.
Awareness generation in urban areas is a priority area under the Rs 66,009 crore Swachh Bharat Mission. Out of this Rs 1,800 cr has been earmarked for Information, Education and Communication activities.
The Ministry has so far released Rs 160 crore to States and UTs.