India’s PM vows to overcome waste to promote growth

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has underlined his goal to achieve a "clean India" by October 2019 in order to help his country grow into an economic superpower. The Prime Minister outlines his views in an interview for a new book published by researchers from The Australian National University (ANU). The book titled Waste of a Nation takes a look at the major problem of waste and sewage management in India in unprecedented depth. Prime Minister Modi, who launched the Clean India Mission in 2014, said India's poor history of managing rubbish is holding the country back. "If we want to improve the standard of living of the poor, one of the basic things to focus on is improving the sanitation and hygiene practices across the country," he said. "Poor garbage management also has an adverse effect on tourism, and indirectly impacts the overall health of a city, and Impacts India's image on the world stage," said the Prime Minister. The book's authors, Associate Professor Assa Doron, from the School of Culture, History and Language at the College of Asia and the Pacific and Emeritus Professor Robin Jeffrey from the ANU, agree with the Prime Minister's observations.