The borders of the country were “fully secure” and the armed forces were capable of dealing with all kinds of situations, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said here today, while assuring the citizens that the NDA government guaranteed their security.

Commenting on repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan, she said the armed forces fully alert and prepared to deal with “any situation” and added that action will taken. Sitharaman was speaking at an event organised by the Cantonment Board here at the Banaras Hindu University’s (BHU) Swatantrata Bhawan.

On the occasion, she gave open defecation-free (ODF) certificates to 10 cantonments of the Central Command of the Indian Army, including Lucknow, Bareilly, Jabalpur, Danapur, Dehradun, Meerut, Ranikhet and Varanasi.

The defence minister urged the people to support the Centre’s cleanliness mission, adding that after Mahatma Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken forward the initiative to encourage the citizens to keep their surroundings clean. She appealed to the people to ensure cleanliness at the places of tourist attraction and said her ministry would carry out a special cleanliness drive from September 15 to October 2 across the country.

Swachh Bharat mission

Sitharaman said to support the Swachh Bharat mission, the defence ministry had recently sanctioned Rs 50 crore to the cantonment boards, which would be spent on recycling waste and other cleanliness measures.