The day began with the Minister, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, and the Minister, Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Ms. Uma Bharti paying tributes in front of the statue of Shri Chandrashekhar Azad at the Company Bagh, Allahabad. The Minister also administered a Swachhta Pledge to all the Pradhans, regarding making their villages ODF and sustaining the status.

Moving to the venue for the Convention, the United College of Engineering and Management, Naini, Ms. Uma Bharti began the proceedings of the convention by reading out a message on the occasion from the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi. Excerpts from the Prime Minister’s Message were as below:

“It gives me immense pleasure that the representatives of all the Gram Panchayats situated along the banks of the river Ganga have assembled today at the Holy Sangam of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati – Allahabad – with the shared aim of making their villages Open Defecation Free. This beginning is an imperative to make the densely populated villages along the banks of the Ganga Swachh in true sense, to make our rivers pollution free, and to maintain the ecological balance in this area.

For all-round development of the nation, it is critically important that our health is sound, our mothers and sisters live with safety and dignity, and our environment is clean, safe and attuned to community-wide health. Becoming Open Defecation Free – ODF – is the first step in this direction. Keeping the river Ganga clean and pure is our collective responsibility.