The country would have been disease-free by now if programmes like the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan were started 70 years back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 23 said.

Attacking the opposition, Modi said he was mocked for these programmes, which are aimed at making a healthy nation. Citing a report of the World Health Organisation, he said lives of three lakh children in India can be saved just by ensuring cleanliness.

"There has been a recent WHO report, (which states) that just because of (by ensuring) cleanliness, three lakh children can be saved from dying in India, such is the situation. The Swachhta Abhiyan is directly connected to health," Modi said, addressing a public gathering in Junagadh district of Gujarat.

He was speaking after inaugurating various projects, including a newly-built hospital of the Gujarat Medical and Education Research Society. "When I used to talk about cleanliness, they (Opposition) used to make fun of me. Is this the PM's work... to make toilets, clear garbage? Had all these works been done 70 years back, the country would have been disease-free by now," the prime minister said.

Modi said moving the country towards being open defecation free is the biggest service towards health. He said a programme has been started under which there will be one medical college and a hospital for every three parliamentary seats. Later, (as the programme progresses) the number of parliamentary seats will be reduced to two and then one.

"There should finally be a medical college and a hospital in every district (zilla)," Modi said. The prime minister arrived in Gujarat this morning on a day's visit and headed to Valsad where he witnessed the collective 'e-gruha pravesh' (online house warming) of the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin). He will later attend the convocation of the Gujarat Forensic Science University in Gandhinagar and a meeting of the Somnath Temple Trust at the Raj Bhavan.