Olympic medalists Sindhu, Malik likely to be new faces of Swachh Bharat Mission

New Delhi, Sep 4: Rio Olympics medalists PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik, besides olympian Dipa Karmakar are likely to be the new faces of Swachh Bharat Mission for creating awareness about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative.

In Pics: Sachin presents BMW cars to Sindhu, Sakshi, Dipa

"We are very keen to involve both Olympic medal winners Sakshi Malik and P V Sindhu along with gymnast Dipa Karmakar, in Swachh Bharat Mission. The stories about role of hygeine and sanitation in their sucess will be great booster for this mission," Secretary, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Parameswaran Iyer told PTI.

He said these sportstars can inspire many women, especially in rural areas.

"We will apporach Sports Ministry for involving these olympians," he said.

Modi had nominated 27 prominent personalities from various walks of life for promoting his pet programme.

The list includes Amitabh Bachchan, Ramdev, Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Ambani, among others. For achieving universal sanitation and to put focus on hygiene, Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2, 2014.

The Mission is coordinated by the Secretary of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) with two Sub-Missions, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), which aims to achieve universal sanitation (Swachh Bharat) by 2019.

It is a national campaign and covers more than 4,000 statutory cities and towns involving cleaning the streets and other infrastructure across the country.

One of the main objectives of this mission is to achieve an Open-Defecation Free (ODF) India by October 2, 2019 as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.

PTI