india

Updated: Oct 02, 2019 08:42 IST

On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will declare India open defecation-free.

The prime minister will make the announcement at Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad. PM Modi will address a crowd of over 20,000 sarpanchs.

“Nearly half of the sarpanchs will be from Gujarat and rest from other states,” deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, had said earlier. “The first step towards swachhta has been achieved by making the country open defecation-free. This will be announced by the PM on October 2 at Ahmedabad during the national sarpanch convention.”

PM Modi will reach the Ahmedabad airport at around 6 pm. He will then leave for Sabarmati Ashram where he will pay his tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.

From there, the prime minister will leave for Sabarmati Riverfront where he will address the crowd and declare the country open defecation-free (ODF).

“Modi will also attend the state-level Navratri festival organised at the city’s GMDC ground. He will spend some time at the garba ground before leaving for Delhi,” PTI quoted Vaghani as saying.

Sarpanchs from states including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Union Territories will attend the event.