India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during the 2019 United Nations Climate Action Summit at U.N. headquarters in New York City | Reuters
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was today conferred the "Global Goalkeeper" award by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by his government.
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Accepting the award, Modi said he shared the honour with crores of Indians who had contributed to the success of the cleanliness mission.
Getting the award in the year of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary was significant for him, the prime minister said, adding that when 130 crore people take a pledge, any challenge can be overcome.
The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched by the Modi government during its first term on October 2, 2014. Over 10 crore toilets have, according to government data, been built in India since the launch of the Swachh Bharat programme on October 2, 2014.
However, a group of prominent South Asian Americans, claiming they were "allies in philanthropy," have written an open letter criticising the award and urging the Foundation to withdraw it, citing concerns over his human rights record since Modi came to power in 2014, CNN reported.
In a statement to CNN, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation defended its decision, saying: "Before the Swachh Bharat mission, over 500 million people in India did not have access to safe sanitation, and now, the majority do. There is still a long way to go, but the impacts of access to sanitation in India are already being realised."
"The Swachh Bharat mission can serve as a model for other countries around the world that urgently need to improve access to sanitation for the world's poorest."
In previous years, speakers at the Goalkeepers event have included former US president Barack Obama, French President Emmanuel Macron, Deputy UN Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and Nobel Peace Prize winners like Malala Yousafzai and Nadia Murad.
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