Centre to speed up cleanliness drives after earning Rs 1,162 cr from scrap

The cleanliness campaigns carried out at over four lakh sites have resulted in weeding out nearly 96.10 lakh files, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said.

The Centre has earned Rs 1,162 crore from scrap disposal during its special cleanliness drives and plans are afoot to further accelerate it with the help of the states, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said on Monday.

The cleanliness campaigns carried out at over four lakh sites have resulted in weeding out nearly 96.10 lakh files, including electronic files, besides freeing up 355.50 lakh square feet of space, which can house a huge shopping complex or a mall, he said.

"As much as Rs 1,162.49 crore has been earned through disposal of office scrap, including e-waste such as old computers and other electronic items. The cleanliness drive has become India's largest campaign for institutionalising 'swachata'," Singh told PTI.

He said without spending a significant sum, the government has been able to earn so many crores of revenue through the cleanliness campaign, "which, in my opinion, is a huge success".

The revenue of Rs 1,162.49 crore was earned in the three special campaigns carried out by the central government during 2021 to 2023, the minister said.

Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a call for 'swachhta (cleanliness)' from the ramparts of Red Fort in his first Independence Day speech in 2014 and soon it turned into a mass movement.

"We have seen tremendous improvement in the office space. There was a time when we had cluttered office spaces with huge piles of files. Through these campaigns, that typical image of the government office space is no longer a reality. The special cleanliness campaign is one big initiative out of several others being taken to improve the overall functioning of the government," he said.

Singh added that the Centre wants to make the cleanliness campaign a massive mass movement with the help of the state governments.

"We are in touch with the state governments. Some of the state governments, including Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, have already taken noteworthy initiatives in this regard. We expect more states to accelerate this drive to make wealth out of waste," he said.

Singh said the cleanliness campaigns have resulted in a healthier work environment and de-cluttered office spaces.

"Government offices have been modernised through the adoption of mechanical cleaning, digital initiatives and compactors for effective records management. Millions of citizens visiting government offices experience a healthier work environment and the adoption of digital portals has led to minimal office visits for them," he said.

Singh said the first edition of the special cleanliness drive covered around 6,154 office sites.

"The efforts to enhance the office space and minimise pendency were continued and regular review meetings held to sustain the efforts. The Special Campaign 2.0, held last year, covered around one lakh sites across the country," he said.

During the Special Campaign 3.0 this year, a saturation approach was adopted to cover all field/public-centric offices covering around 2.5 lakh sites.

"It alone helped in earning around Rs 556 crore of revenue through scrap disposal," the minister added.