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Patna: Bollywood playback singer Udit Narayan and cricketer Saba Karim on Tuesday joined the league of celebrities lending a hand in the 'Swachh Bharat Mission' by cleaning a hospital here.
Narayan and Karim, a national selector of Indian cricket team, are among the 'Nav Ratna' (nine stars) selected by Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development (HRD) Upendra Kushwaha to carry forward the ambitious campaign spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi was also part of the nine names announced by Kushwaha.
Mathematician and founder of Super 30 Anand Kumar, folk singer Sharda Sinha, social worker Sudha Verghese, Orthopaedic surgeon Amulaya Kumar Singh, CEO of ABP News Uday Shankar and team of Radio Mirchi were other nominees of Kushwaha team.
The minister told reporters that the celebrities had been selected to inspire people in their surrounding and elsewhere to devote some time in cleanness to keep the society healthy.
Kushwaha said he had made a request to Chief Minister Manjhi through a letter to be part of the 'Swachh Abhiyan' a month ago, but has not received consent so far.
Asked about omission of former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the list, Kushwaha, friend-turned-foe of the senior JD(U) leader, said Manjhi could associate him in the drive.
"Otherwise also nobody shall wait for the invitation to be part of cleanness drive...he (Kumar) can himself start the work and inspire others to keep their surrounding clean," he said.
Hailing the 'Clean India' campaign launched by Prime Minister Modi on Gandhi Jayanti, Kushwaha said everybody had been tasked to associate nine others in the campaign.
Such a chain aim is to engage more than 1.25 crore citizens with the cleanness drive across the country to achieve the mission of clean India by 2019.
BCCI selector Saba Karim, who hails from Patna, praised the campaign and expressed happiness in involving himself with the drive.
Narayan said the drive was a big step to achieve the objective of 'health is wealth'.
Super 30 founder Kumar praised the concept and said he would inspire his students in the academy to devote some time in cleaning areas in the surrounding.
All the celebrities along with the minister later wielded brooms and cleaned premises of the New Gardiner Road Government Hospital located in the heart of the city.
