Centre to conduct third special cleanliness drive from October 2-31

New Delhi: The Centre will conduct a third special cleanliness drive from October 2 to 31 in all its departments with a focus on outstation offices having public interface, an official statement said on Tuesday.

Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh on Tuesday reviewed the preparations for the campaign.

“Cabinet Secretary has written to all secretaries of the Government of India, seeking their personal involvement for the success of the campaign. The Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) will be the nodal department for coordinating and steering the campaign across the country and oversee implementation of special campaign 3.0," said a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry.

The government will organise the special campaign 3.0 for improving cleanliness and disposal of pending references from October 2 to 31 on the lines of the special campaigns held in 2021 and 2022 on the same theme, it said.

“The special campaign 3.0 will focus on field/outstation offices responsible for service delivery or having public interface,” the statement said.

The special campaign 2.0 conducted in 2022 covered over one lakh government offices in the entire length and breadth of the country.

These offices collectively cleared about 89.8 lakh square feet of space and put them into productive usage. A revenue of Rs 370.83 crore was earned from scrap disposal, 64.92 lakh files were reviewed, 4.56 lakh public grievances were redressed and 8,998 references from Members of Parliament were replied to, the statement said.

The DARPG has issued guidelines for the conduct of the campaign, which will be organised in two phases.

During the preparatory phase, from September 15 to 30, all ministries/departments will identify pending references and campaign sites for cleanliness besides assessing the volume of redundant materials to be disposed of, among others.

During the implementation phase from October 2 to 31, all ministries/departments will "make efforts to achieve the targets identified in the preparatory phase, utilise the campaign to improve records management and document the best practices evolved during the campaign", the statement said.

A weekly consolidated report will be prepared by DARPG on the progress of the campaign for submission to the Cabinet Secretariat and PMO, it added.

Singh appreciated the year-on-year progress made under the special campaigns in 2021 and 2022 leading to the institutionalisation of ‘swacchata’ and reduction in pendency in the government.

He said special attention is to be given to field/outstation offices responsible for service delivery or having a public interface in the entire length and breadth of the country on a mission mode to further deepen the extent of the campaign.

This year’s special campaign is expected to bring in significant innovative practices and systemic reform for a conducive work environment, the statement added.