New Delhi, Jul 14 (IANS): Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday launched a special cleanliness drive in the Parliament and urged the MPs to take the zeal of the campaign to every village in the country.

Birla said the commencement of the 'Swachhata Abhiyan' in the Parliament House was an endeavour to spread the message of cleanliness envisioned by Mahatma Gandhi.

The Swachhata Abhiyan was earlier launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to coincide with the 150th birth anniversary of Gandhi which falls on October 2.

Birla said that MPs were the representatives of 130 crore people in the Parliament and had an important role to spread awareness about cleanliness.

"Swachhata is next to Godliness and this campaing is not only an Abhiyan of the Parliament alone, but will serve as an occasion to take the message of Swachhata to every village and town of the country to keep the society healthy," said Birla.

Earlier, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that this was the first time that such an initiative took place in the Parliament as he congratulated Birla for the effort.

"Swachhata Abhiyan has now become a movement. People across the country have now become more aware about cleanliness and its associated health benefits," said Singh.

The members also paid floral tributes at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi and took a pledge to spread the message of cleanliness.