Narendra Modi's award for Swachch Bharat by Gates Foundation faces withdrawals by Riz Ahmed, Jameela Jamil

Popular actor and rap artist Riz Ahmed, and actress and radio personality Jameela Jamil have decided to back out from an event arranged by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to receive Global Goalkeeper Award for his Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, reports The Quint.

Noted journalist Azad Essa tweeted about the development on Monday. Essa even went on to share an article which aims at academics and activists who have been trying to convince the Gates Foundation to withdraw Modi’s award.

As per the foundation, the Global Goalkeeper Award is a “special recognition” that recognises a political leader who has managed to showcase their “commitment to the Global Goals through impactful work in their country and/or globally.”

Check out him tweets

Modi’s Swachch Bharat Mission, which had launched on 2 October, 2014, is the main reason for the award. The goals of the campaign are to bolster the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage across India by this year. It will also stand as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, on the statesman’s 150th birth anniversary.

The report adds there have been 90 million toilets installed so far, in order to eradicate open defecation by 2 October, 2019. Currently, 98 percent of rural India have rural sanitation coverage as opposed to 38 percent four years ago.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will host the fourth annual Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards on 24 September.