Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to connect citizens in urban neighborhoods and constituencies for the cause of cleanliness

New Delhi, India, October 9, 2014 – LocalCircles (www.localcircles.com), India’s leading Community Social Media platform today announced that the Ministry of Urban Development has partnered with LocalCircles to build online citizen communities for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan at the National level and for urban neighborhoods and constituencies across India.

This initiative, first of its kind in the world, will connect local residents in urban constituencies and neighborhoods with each other enabling them to easily come together, exchange ideas on cleanliness, action them by organizing clean up drives in their neighborhoods, share pictures of the collective effort, engage with the elected local representatives and contribute to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The national circle will enable citizens to know about the best practices, share them and give collective inputs on Cleanliness and Sanitation to the Ministry of Urban Development on an ongoing basis.

“This is a great example of citizen communities and technology coming together for the important cause of Swachh Bharat and I am pleased to announce this initiative to engage citizens in the Abhiyan”, said Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Urban Development, Government of India. “This is a five year journey and it is very important that we initiate and sustain this initiative effectively by enabling easy participation from every citizen for cleaning their neighborhood”, Naidu continued.

“LocalCircles is pleased to be a partner to the Ministry of Urban Development in this much needed cause of Swachh Bharat. Community Social Media is one of the best ways to engage citizens and communities in Governance, Development and Good Collective Action, and we are glad to have the Ministry of Urban Development adopt it” said Sachin Taparia, Chairman and CEO of LocalCircles. “The first governance circle – Transform India with Modi has already set a great example with collective views of citizens being regularly submitted to the Government on critical issues ranging from Fighting Corruption to Women & Child Safety in the last 3 months. With Swachh Bharat circles, there will be local citizen action on the ground to Clean India, in addition to the online community discussions”, Taparia continued.

“We will also invite the elected representatives to join their local constituency circle and participate with citizens in the mission of Swachh Bharat making it a true partnership between Citizens and Government”, said Naidu. “I request every citizen of India to get connected with fellow citizens in their area and whole heartedly participate to create a Swachh Bharat by ensuring a clean neighborhood”, Naidu continued.

All citizens of India committed to the cause of cleaning their neighborhood and city are invited to join the Swachh Bharat circle by going to http://www.localcircles.com and use INVITE code – SWACHHBHARAT.

About Swachh Bharat Abhiyan - Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan aspires to make cleanliness a public movement rather than a Government mission by engaging every citizen of India in the process. Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), Government of India, is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to the housing and urban development in India. It is responsible to enable the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan throughout Urban India.

About LocalCircles - LocalCircles takes Social Media to the next level and makes it about Communities, Governance and Utility. It enables citizens to connect with communities for most aspects of urban daily life like Neighborhood, Constituency, City, Government, Causes, Interests and Needs, seek information/assistance when needed, come together for various initiatives and improve their urban daily life. LocalCircles is free for citizens and always will be! For more information, please visit: http://www.localcircles.com