And now, 'Swantah Sukhaya'

After Swachh Bharat, central government officials must spend time on Swantah Sukhaya, a social work/charity initiative that has been on since 2004 in Gujarat. The day Prime Minister Narendra Modi met all government secretaries over tea at his residence, his government issued an office memorandum on Swantah Sukhaya. The order dated November 1 says a decision has been taken to launch an initiative to provide a platform to government officials to design and implement projects of their choice on voluntary basis to get a "sense of self-satisfaction". Draft guidelines have been issued and inputs sought by November 30 for a methodology and name for the initiative. While the idea is to make government officials use their "insights for benefit of the community and nation" outside structured work, the people for whom the initiative is being tailored are wondering how they will make time for it, given that it's almost mandatory for them to stay beyond office hours to clear files, and monitor cleanliness in the office as well.