India News | 1 Lakh Sq Feet Space Created in Ministries, Depts After Cleanliness Campaign: Jitendra Singh

New Delhi, Oct 20 (PTI) Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said one lakh square feet space has been created in departments and ministries after clearing out obsolete items, among other things, and weeding out four lakh files under a special sanitisation campaign.

He also reviewed the progress of the campaign, which was launched on October 2, for the nine departments and ministries under his charge.

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The minister was informed that in less than 20 days of the special campaign, more than one lakh square feet of space has been generated from avoidable occupancy in all the ministries and departments of the government of India, a statement issued by the personnel ministry said.

He also noted with satisfaction that in such a short span of time nearly four lakh files have been weeded out, it said.

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Secretaries and heads in the ministry of earth sciences, department of administrative reforms and public grievances, department of personnel and training, department of pension and pensioners' welfare, department of biotechnology, department of scientific and industrial research, department of science and technology, department of space and department of atomic energy took part in the review meeting.

Singh, who is the minister of state for personnel, informed that the special campaign on “disposal of pendency in the government is being conducted on the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the progress will be presented to him on the conclusion of the campaign”.

“The minister had launched the special campaign on October 1 for disposal of pendency during the period October 2- October 31,” the personnel ministry said

Singh asked the department of administrative reforms and public grievances (DARPG) to do a comparative analysis of all the ministries and departments of the government of India on reduction of pendency in various categories and to bring out the best practices to be shared with all.

He asked DARPG to coordinate with ministries to speed up the campaign as it is going to end after 10 days.

The minister, however, reiterated that the motivation behind the campaign should last even after it is over.

Referring to Prime Minister Modi's speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 2014, wherein he announced to launch the Swachh Bharat Mission from October 2, 2014, Singh said the mission on hygiene and cleanliness became a jan andolan and was imbibed by the people as a social reform movement.

He said, in the same spirit from October 2, a new swachhata campaign was launched for clearing of all the pendency of files and discarding redundant scrap material and obsolete items in office premises and backyard.

Singh said this month Prime Minister Modi launched the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban to make all cities in India garbage free.

Therefore, it is all the more imperative that during this special campaign, files of temporary nature may be identified and weeded out as per the extant instructions, and redundant scrap material and obsolete items discarded to improve cleanliness at work places, he said.

Singh said that the special campaign is aimed at ensuring timely and effective disposal of public grievances, references from members of parliament, state governments, inter-ministerial consultations and parliamentary assurances by each ministry and department and its attached and subordinate offices during the campaign period.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)