 "Yogi Adityanath wields broom, vows to make UP open defecation free by 2018")
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday wielded the broom and undertook a cleanliness drive in Lucknow. He also vowed to make the state open defecation free (ODF) by 2018.
Adityanath's cleaning mission in Balu Adda area came a day after 52 cities and towns of the state figured in the "most dirty" list in a survey conducted by the Union government.
The chief minister interacted with the local people and asked them to keep their surroundings clean and contribute their bit in making Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Swacch Bharat' mission a success.
He also directed officials present to ensure that polythene was banned and that corporations ensured that their wards were clean.
Blaming the previous Samajwadi Party (SP) government for the dumps of garbage and dirty surroundings, Adityanath said that all this would not be tolerated.
This drive by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government would be taken up as a mission soon, he added.
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Pointing out that not a single town in the state was ODF till date, he set the target to make the entire state open defecation free by 2018.
Only eight per cent of the target number of toilets were constructed under the earlier government, he added. The Akhilesh Yadav government had spent only 21 per cent of the funds allocated in their construction.