Team Swachh: Delivering the message of sanitation through cricket

The programme’s goal is to eradicate the practice of open defecation and ensure a clean India by 2019, wherein everyone will have access to and use a toilet.

The initiative plans to bring together cricketers, school children, government, development partners as well as the media.

Team Swachh will be rolled out during the pre-tournament Eight City Tour, followed by events and more activations during the World twenty20 cricket championship.

Caroline Den Dulk - Chief of Advocacy, UNICEF India, Raymond Palmer - ICC spokesperson and M. Asadur Rahman- Chief, Field Offices, UNICEF West Bengal were present at the launch.

Rahman said, “32% of the world’s population (2.4 billion) lack improved sanitation facilities; of these 564 million in India have no toilet facilities at all; they practice open defecation, which is a public health problem. Therefore the whole state is gearing up to eradicate open-defecation and building a clean state.”

Sachin Tendulkar is the official brand ambassador of the campaign.

Other cricketers associated with the initiative are Yuvraj Singh, Rishi Dhawan and Manoj Tewari.

Talking to the media, Palmer said, “India uses the incredible power of cricket, every single person ever met in India is absolutely lost in it. Therefore,  this movement is going to help tremendously to bring the message of sanitation to children.”

Team Swachh is a nation-wide initiative in support of Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission.

(Reporting by Aninnya Sarkar)