Clean India Campaign: No escape for government employees for next 5 years

If the government employees thought that the cleanliness drive would be over after taking pledge and wielding a broom on October 2, or for a week or at the most till the end of October, they are in for a big shock. There is no escape for the central government employees at all levels and in every place from being a part of this key initiative of prime minister Narendra Modi for at least 5 years i.e. until October 2019.

And they cannot hoodwink the PM for to ensure compliance, the Prime Minister's Office has asked all central ministries and central government departments to file a daily status report (DSR) of what kind of cleanliness work they have done and where and how the place looked before and after cleaning.

Moreover, all central government institutions are required to file the DSR everyday by 1 pm along with the list of activities undertaken by them on cleanliness drive at the Central, State and field level to secretary of the ministry of drinking water and sanitation who has been nominated as the Swachh Bharat Mission coordinator.

"The PMO has asked for daily reports from all the ministries starting from today," says Pankaj Jain, secretary of the ministry of drinking water and sanitation (DWS) in his letter dated September 26, 2014. As the PMO has the right to get a surprise inspection done anywhere and anytime, the government employees do not have the option to fudge or can only do it at their own risk.

Before being sent to the PMO, a Joint Secretary-level officer in the ministry of DWS will supervise the DSRs with the help of a director-level officer, who will compile the reports throughout the campaign period. The ministry of DWS can seek the assistance of the cabinet secretariat in rolling out and implementing the mission, said the PMO in a letter to the ministry of DWS dated September 23, 2014.

Modi has tried to rope in all the States and the UTs too in this Herculean task. In a letter dated September 23, 2014 addressed to all the state chief secretaries, the secretary of DWS ministry has asked them to fill up the Action Plan for Swachh Bharat.

The plan is to be given under three headings of 1) Involvement of key government functionaries, public bodies and citizen right up to the bottom of the pyramid that includes RWAs, and housing societies; 2) Action to be taken (in the form of illustrative list) at homes, public places, markets, roads, gardens, malls, hospitals, offices, schools, corporates, banks, bus and railway stations and police stations; and 3) Address and appeal through activities such as on media platforms by governors and CMs, rallies, walkathons, marathons, competitions and quizzes, dramas, seminars, social gatherings etc.

All this requires to be uploaded with photographs of before and after cleanliness event on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan sites on MyGov, Twitter and Facebook.