The government has been reportedly able to bring in more than Rs 1,163 crore since October 2021 which comprises a whopping Rs 557 crore that was made throughout a one-month cleanliness drive in October of this year. According to reports, since October 2021 an incredible 96 lakh physical files have been discarded from central government offices freeing up over 355 lakh square feet of space overall.
This has resulted in office hallways being cleaned and vacated space ending up for recreation centers as well as other beneficial applications.
Around Rs 600 crore was spent on India’s successful Chandrayaan-3 moon mission and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration could have comfortably financed two of such missions by selling junk such as files, condemned office equipment and defunct vehicles. As per reports, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh remarked, “The Russian moon mission, which was unsuccessful, cost Rs 16,000 crore, and our (Chandrayaan-3) mission cost just around Rs 600 crore. Hollywood films based on moon and space missions cost over Rs 600 crore,” earlier this year.
This scrap clearance campaign has been spearheaded by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances.
The Ministry of Railways alone brought in about Rs 225 crore of the Rs 556 crore the government made from the initiative in 2023. The Ministry of Defence at Rs 168 crore, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas at Rs 56 crore, and the Ministry of Coal at Rs 34 crore were the other major contributors. The Ministry of Coal liberated the largest amount of space this year at 66 lakh square feet followed by the Ministry of Heavy Industry at 21 lakh square feet and the Ministry of Defense at 19 lakh square feet out of a total of 164 lakh square feet cleared this year, based on the report.
Approximately 24 lakh files were cleared out this year with the Ministry of External Affairs having the most 3.9 lakh files next to the Department of Military Affairs with 3.15 lakh files. The impact of the cleanliness program has culminated in an increase in the government’s overall e-file adoption rate to over 96%. The program covered around 2.58 lakh office sites this year.
V Srinivas, Secretary Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances stated, “The Special Campaign 3.0 for institutionalizing Swachhata (cleanliness) and reducing pendency represents India’s largest ever campaign for Swachhata in office spaces. The month-long campaign conducted in 2,58,673 offices across India and abroad, resulted in freeing up 164 lac sq ft of office space, weeding of 24.07 lakh physical files and earned revenues of Rs 556.35 crore from disposal of office scrap.”
He added, “The Special Campaign 3.0 was successful in a significant reduction in pendency with Ministries/Departments achieving nearly 100% targets in the redressal of public grievances, records management practices and replies to MP references. The Swachhata Assessment Report 2023 presents the leadership role played by the Council of Ministers and the Secretaries to GOI in the successful implementation of Special Campaign 3.0 under the guidance of Prime Minister Modi, documenting the best practices and innovations. The Swachhata campaign practices will be institutionalized in government with three hours per week being devoted to Swachhata activities.”
