New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) Sports Minister Anurag Thakur participated in the Clean India drive at the premises of the Humayun's Tomb along with volunteers here on Tuesday morning.

Organised as part of the pan-India month-long cleanliness campaign by the sports ministry to collect and remove garbage (mainly plastics), the drive has been initiated to mark 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'.

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Speaking on the occasion, Thakur said through this campaign "we are not only organising clean India drive but also generating awareness about clean and healthy surroundings."

He said the ministry has set a target to collect 75 lakh kg waste, mainly plastic waste from October 1 to 31 through this initiative, with the support of voluntary participation of citizens.

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"30 lakh kilogram waste has been collected across nation through Clean India Drives in the first 10 days of campaign," Thakur said.

"It is my firm belief that we will collect more than 75 lakh kilogram waste across the nation before 31st October 2021," he added.

Appealing to the countrymen not to litter their surroundings, Thakur said that if everyone becomes aware and uses dustbins, then there will be no need to have such cleanliness drives in the future.

Youth affairs secretary Usha Sharma and senior officers of the ministry and Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) and volunteers from different groups also participated in the drive.

Clean India is a youth-led programme being organised in six lakh villages of 744 districts across the country through the NYKS affiliated youth clubs and national service scheme affiliated institutions as well as a cross-section of various stakeholders.

The cleanliness drives are being undertaken at historical/iconic locations and hotspots such as tourist places, bus stand/railway stations etc.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)