New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS): Delhi BJP MLA Abhay Verma has expressed happiness over a report released by an international science journal regarding the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' and said it was the result of the Prime Minister's vision.

A study published in the journal 'Scientific Reports' has shown that the toilets built under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan have contributed to a reduction in the infant mortality rate by around 60,000 to 70,000 deaths annually.

Abhay Verma on Friday remarked that there was a time when people mocked this initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the results of the Prime Minister's vision are now becoming evident, he said.

The BJP MLA said that saving the lives of 60,000 to 70,000 children through the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a significant achievement. "When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the cleanliness drive should be taken up as a movement, many people ridiculed it. They said that the Prime Minister had admitted that there is filth in India. But now, the results of the Prime Minister's vision are starting to show," he said.

"This report isn't from the Prime Minister, it's a study by an institution. I can even give an example from my own area. We had six garbage dumps, and people would tell me that every morning they had to see piles of garbage, which made the whole area unhygienic and led to an increase in diseases...However, after the Prime Minister's initiative, the Municipal Corporation started converting garbage dumps into compactors. Today, there isn't a single garbage dump in my constituency. So, in some way or another, this mission has benefited every person in the country. I applaud the Prime Minister for introducing several excellent initiatives to advance the nation," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in 2014.

The goal of the mission is to make India open defecation free (ODF). A recent study on this mission found that the Swachh Bharat Mission has helped reduce the infant mortality rate.

According to the study, the toilets built under this mission have led to a reduction in infant mortality by around 60,000 to 70,000 deaths each year. A team, including researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute in the US, studied data from national-level surveys conducted over 20 years across 35 states/union territories and more than 600 districts.

The study examined the relationship between the availability of toilets built under the Swachh Bharat Mission and the reduction in mortality among infants and children under five from 2000 to 2020.

On Thursday, PM Modi hailed the research work spotlighting the outcome of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in ushering in hygienic conditions in both rural and urban India, pivotal in checking infant mortality across the country.

PM Modi took to X and shared a link to the research work on how SBM turned out to be a game-changer in containing infant mortality. He also expressed happiness over the positive impacts of the programme, including a significant reduction in infant and child mortality rates in the country. “Happy to see research highlighting the impact of efforts like the Swachh Bharat Mission. Access to proper toilets plays a crucial role in reducing infant and child mortality,” PM Modi said.