Dimapur: Following opposition from various organisations, the Nagaland government has decided to carry out the nationwide cleanliness drive across the state on September 30 (Saturday) instead of the designated date of October 1 on account of the day falling on a Sunday.
In an office memorandum on Wednesday, the state home department said the respective deputy commissioners had been designated as the nodal officers for planning, taking measures as necessary, and coordinating with all the urban local body administrators for the urban areas and all the block development officers for the rural areas, and district officers of other departments/agencies as may be required, for ensuring successful execution of all the activities in regard to the cleanliness drive in the districts in line with the instructions from the government of India.
At the state level, the nodal officer for overall coordination of the entire cleanliness drive will be the commissioner, Nagaland.
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Various organisations, including the Nagaland Baptist Church Council, NSCN (IM), Naga Students Federation (NSF) and the Nagaland Theological Colleges Association (NTCA), voiced opposition to the call for the nationwide cleanliness drive by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a Sunday.
The NBCC said Sunday is not just a holiday but a day of worship for the Christians.
It added that since October 1 falls on a day of worship for Christians, it will sacrifice another day to “show our cooperation and solidarity to the nation”.
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Terming the call for the cleanliness drive on a Sunday as playing with the Naga people’s religious ethos, the NSCN (IM) said the Nagas as Christians cannot simply abide by the call of the Prime Minister no matter how noble the cause is.
The NSF said PM Modi’s call for a collective cleanliness drive on Sunday has raised concerns among the Christians in India and beyond.
It said this call for a nationwide event on a Sunday is deeply insensitive to the religious sentiments of the Christian community and out rightly detrimental to the very essence of secularism.
The NTCA said scheduling this national event on a Sunday inadvertently clashes with the holy day for millions of Christians nationwide.