Govt earned Rs 254 cr from disposing scrap, eased 588 rules: Jitendra Singh

The Centre has earned Rs 254.21 crore from scrap disposal besides easing of 588 rules during the ongoing special cleanliness campaign, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday.

He said 40 lakh files have been reviewed and 37.19 lakh square feet of space freed so far.

Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, said tremendous enthusiasm is being witnessed in ministries/department for institutionalising Swachhata and minimising pendency.

Revenue of Rs 254.21 crore has been earned so far from the disposal of scrap. A total of 588 rules have been eased, he said while talking to media at his official residence here.

Singh said the campaign has inculcated a behavioural change and led to innovation in governance.

He said there were 68,363 Swachhata campaign sites and 40.52 lakh files (including e-files and physical files) were reviewed.

The minister reviewed the progress of week 3 of special campaign 2.0 being implemented in all government offices of India and said significant progress was achieved in the period October 2-October 25, 2022.

As many as 3,20,152 public grievances have been redressed, 37.19 lakh square feet of space was freed and 5,416 references from the Members of Parliament (MPs) were also processed, he said.

The campaign, which is being undertaken from October 2-October 31, in its three weeks has been holistic in size and scale, witnessed widespread participation from thousands of officials and citizens who came together create a movement for Swachhata in government offices.

Cabinet ministers, Ministers of State and secretaries to Government of India participated in the special campaign 2.0, providing leadership and guidance in its implementation.

V Srinivas, secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) said there has been tremendous participation in the campaign from the government officials.

Impact of the cleanliness campaign is visible. Rules and processes have already been identified for simplification. The campaign has brought out many positive changes so far, he said.

Information and Broadcasting secretary Apurva Chandra, who was also present during the press meet, also shared initiatives being undertaken in his department as part of the campaign.

Talking to PTI, he said an electronic billing system (e-billing) will be implemented by the year-end to process grant of government advertisements to newspapers and their billing.

Himanshu Pathak, secretary, Department of Agriculture Research and Education (DARE) suggested taking this cleanliness campaign to villages as well to ensure its grand success.

Pathak insisted on the need for farmers to create wealth from waste like crop residue instead of burning it.

He said if we do not waste crop residue and create wealth, it can help in increasing fertility of soil and crop growth.