Assimilating Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of non-violence, cleanliness true homage to him: Gujarat CM

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Saturday paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his 152nd birth anniversary, and urged people to assimilate his principles of non-violence and cleanliness.

Patel was speaking at an all-faith prayer meet organised at Kirti Mandir, a memorial house in Porbandar, located close to Gandhiji's ancestral house, where he was born on this day in 1869.

On the occasion, the chief minister appealed to people to pay "true homage' to the Mahatma by assimilating his ideals of non-violence and cleanliness. He also urged people to inculcate the Gandhian thoughts and his spirit in the heart through prayers.

Patel called upon the people to make cleanliness an instinct and keep Gujarat at the forefront in the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Clean India movement as well as Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) by realising Gandhiji's mantra of cleanliness. "Gujarat has been at the forefront of sanitation and water supply works through sustainable development," he said, and expressed confidence that the Gujarat of Mahatma Gandhi would achieve new heights.

In the first phase of AMRUT Mission, Gujarat is placed at the third position in the country, having completed 305 important works at a cost of Rs 2,800 crore, Patel said. "As many as 95 projects related to safe drinking water supply have been completed in 31 cities. As a result, connections have been provided to 1.70 lakh houses," he said.

Gandhiji's mantra of cleanliness was taken up by the prime minister as a social campaign to bring awareness across the country, which has become a huge public campaign. If Mahatma Gandhi gave us Swarajya, which paved the way for the uplift of the poor villages, the prime minister has started the journey of Surajya (good governance), Patel added.

State Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel, MP Ram Mokariya, MLA Babu Bokhiriya, other leaders and officials of the district administration were present on the occasion. A prayer meet was also organised at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, in which several Gandhians and school children participated. Sabarmati Ashram was set up by Gandhi on June 17, 1917, on the banks of the river Sabarmati.