Union Minister Athawale cleans Buddha temple premises in Mumbai under cleanliness drive

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 17 : Union Minister Ramdas Athawale cleaned the premises of the Buddha Temple in the Bandra area of Mumbai as part of the cleanliness drive on Wednesday.
Athawale said, "PM Modi has said that one should keep one's house and religious places clean. So, everyone needs to make efforts towards that. Sanitation workers do their work but it is our responsibility too to keep our religious places clean. So, I started this..."
He further said that while the inner sanctum sanctorum is always cleaned, the outer premises should also be kept clean.
"If there is too much dirt, then it will result in the rise of pollution. I wish to appeal to the people of Maharashtra that wherever there are Buddha Vihar and Samaj temples, a cleanliness drive should be carried out. Today we have conducted this drive in Buddha Vihar in Shastri Nagar and the objective is that people should be aware of cleanliness," he said.
He further said that such a drive should be conducted every 15 days and the Municipal Corporation officials along with the common man should also be involved.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleaned the premises of the Kalaram Temple in Maharashtra's Nashik as part of the Swachchata Abhiyan campaign. Visuals showed the Prime Minister with a mop and bucket mopping the floor of the temple.
Delivering his inaugural address at the 27th National Youth Festival in Nashik, the Prime Minister reiterated his call for cleanliness campaigns, urging citizens to clean pilgrimage places and temples across the country on 'Pran Pratishtha' day of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the installation of the idol of Ram Lalla at the grand temple on January 22.