New Delhi: Reiterating the importance of recycling and reusing waste to create wealth, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called for “Swachhagraha” or insistence on cleanliness, like Mahatma Gandhi’s “Satyagraha”.

Addressing the India Sanitation Conference inaugurated by Modi at Vigyan Bhavan here, Union Minister for Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation and Panchayati Raj Narendra Singh Tomar said by October 2 this year, one lakh villages will become Open Defecation Free (ODF) while 40 districts across the country will achieve ODF status in the current financial year.

“Only budget allocations cannot further cleanliness. Like... ‘Satyagraha’ that freed us from the British, today there is need for ‘Swachhagraha’ to make India free from filth,” said Modi, calling upon “Swachhagrahis” to launch crusade against filth and refuse. Emphasising on the concepts of reuse and recycle, he said, “We need to create wealth from waste.”