JOIN USHaving joined the Swachch Bharat mission, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar now wants to adopt a village.
The former India cricketer expressed his desire during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his 7 Race Course Road office-cum-residence on Thursday.
Tendulkar, along with his wife Anjali, called on the prime minister to apprise him of the initiatives he has taken since Modi had tagged him along with eight other celebrities to spread the Clean India mission on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary on October 2.
Bharat Ratna awardee Tendulkar, also a Rajya Sabha MP, “informed the prime minister that he had extended the chain by inviting others to participate,” the PMO said in a press release.
During his meeting with Modi, Tendulkar said he looked forward to adopting a village under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana and also expressed keenness to work towards development of sports in schools and colleges.
On Sunday, Tendulkar utilised a CRPF function held here to spread Modi’s resolve for a clean country, which he said should be complemented with healthy individuals for the nation to prosper. He had also written to the prime minister on his initiatives on Swachch Bharat Abhiyan.
Further, Tendulkar had tweeted earlier that “Swachh Bharat Hi Sach Bharat Hai! The story of Stinky Path to Footpath on film”.
The prime minister had recently praised the efforts of the Mumbai-based sports icon and celebrity boxer M C Mary Kom in spreading awareness to clean surroundings. Sportspersons, Modi had said, were more powerful communicators if they take up social causes since, he pointed out, the two had greater visibility than he himself had, holding the broom.
In Hyderabad, ace tennis player Sania Mirza hit the streets to sweep garbage. Sania also posted a video of her contribution to the cleanliness mission, stating that to multiply people she had nominated nine others.
They were: 2008 Olympic gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra, tennis player Somdev Devvarman, rising badminton star P V Sindhu, squash player Dipika Pallikal, actors Shah Rukh Khan and Ritiesh Deshmukh, director Sajid Khan, Telugu movie star Ramcharan and Telangana politician K T Rama Rao.