BJP MP Anurag Thakur on Monday, 22 June 2026 led a public cleanliness drive at a public space in the Nadaun Vidhan Sabha segment of his Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency in Himachal Pradesh, calling on citizens, traders, and youth to maintain cleanliness in their surroundings and stay aware of environmental protection.

Context

Thakur conducted the drive under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the Centre's flagship sanitation mission launched on 2 October 2014. Posting on X, he wrote: 'स्वच्छता स्वस्थ समाज और विकसित भारत की आधारशिला है' — 'Cleanliness is the foundation of a healthy society and a developed India' — and underlined that the campaign is 'not merely a party or government programme, but the collective responsibility of every citizen.'

The drive focused on cleaning a public site in Nadaun, a constituency town nestled in the Beas river valley in Himachal Pradesh. Local residents, traders, and youth volunteers participated alongside the MP.

Policy Backdrop

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched by the Government of India to achieve universal sanitation coverage, initially targeting open-defecation-free (ODF) status across rural and urban India. Under its second phase — Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and ODF-Plus for rural areas — the programme has shifted emphasis from infrastructure creation to sustained behavioural change and solid waste management.

MPs organising constituency-level drives is a deliberate feature of the mission's jan bhagidari (people's participation) model, which gained prominence after 2019. In hill states like Himachal Pradesh, such campaigns carry additional weight given the state's fragile mountain ecology and its economic dependence on eco-tourism.

Stakeholders and Impact

The immediate beneficiaries of the Nadaun drive are local residents who use the cleaned public space. Traders in the area were specifically urged to sustain hygiene standards around their establishments, reflecting the mission's push to involve commercial stakeholders beyond households.

Youth volunteers were a visible constituency at the event — consistent with Thakur's background as a former Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports. Environmental protection messaging, layered on top of the standard sanitation appeal, aligns the drive with broader concerns about waste management in Himachal Pradesh's ecologically sensitive zones.

What's Next

Progress reports on Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and rural ODF-Plus targets are expected to shape how constituency-level drives are assessed for impact. In Himachal Pradesh, state assembly discussions on sanitation budget allocations could amplify the political salience of such grassroots efforts.

Thakur's framing of cleanliness as a pillar of 'Viksit Bharat' (Developed India) — the government's overarching vision for 2047 — signals that the Swachh Bharat mission is being woven into a longer-term national narrative, extending well beyond its original infrastructure milestones.