Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, who's one of the four global leaders in TIME's 'Most Influential People' list, has a new admirer in Bill Gates.
The software billionaire took to social media to acknowledge Modi for putting "the spotlight" on India's open defecation problem through the Swachh Bharat (Clean India) mission.
Gates wrote: "Indian Prime Minister @narendramodi put a spotlight on a subject that most of us would rather not even think about." And linked his blog in the tweet.
In the elaborate blog titled India is Winning its War on Human Waste, he observed:
"Nearly three years ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made one of the boldest comments on public health that I have ever heard from an elected official. It's still having a big impact today... I can’t think of another time when a national leader has broached such a sensitive topic so frankly and so publicly. Even better, Modi backed up his words with actions."
Modi had announced the Clean India mission in 2014 and it included ending open defecation nationwide by 2019 by installing 75 million toilets throughout the country. The progress can be tracked on this dashboard.
Gates, in an earlier tweet, had termed it an "amazing undertaking".
He also shared a VR video (Talking Toilets) he had filmed on his visit to India.
"What I love most about Clean India is that it identified a big problem, got everyone working on it, and is using measurement to show where things need to be done differently. As the old saying goes, What gets measured gets done," wrote Gates.
Well done, Modi. Well done, India!
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