Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu Friday urged citizens to make the Swachh Bharat Mission a mass movement and be clean not only in body and mind but also in financial matters.
Swachh Bharat Mission is not just a government programme or a political motive, he said, adding that every Indian should make it a mass movement.
Naidu, who was speaking at the RBS Earth Heroes award ceremony here, also said it is the duty of every Indian to take care of mother earth, nurture it and leave a clean environment for the coming generations.
While keeping oneself clean in body and mind is important, it is also important that one does not amass wealth thorough illegal means, evade taxes and run away from the country, he said.
"'Tan' - body should be clean, 'mann' - mind should also be sound and clean....Accumulating black money, waiting for the income tax people to come and raid you, avoiding tax and evading arrest and running away from the country are all the forms of an ill mind," the Vice President said.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'reform, perform and transform' analogy, he said all the countrymen should become equal partners in this transformation.
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Naidu said earth has sustained life for more than 4.5 billion years and will be able to sustain people for many more millennia if people are careful and not exceedingly greedy.
Pankaj Phatarphod, Managing Director and Country Head of Services and India Chairperson, RBS Foundation India, said, "The consequences of climate change and the planet's depleting natural resources are much closer. Solving these grave issues is not a question of legislation alone but of our positive actions.