If Indian superstitions were true, Narendra Modi would have had uninterrupted hiccups as he kickstarted the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2 at the Valmiki Basti in Central Delhi. Thousands of central and state government officials had been forced to come to their workplaces for the campaign inauguration on the Gandhi Jayanti national holiday, and were muttering rude things about the prime minister for ruining their long weekend.
Modi led a cleanliness pledge at India Gate, joined by 30 lakh government employees across the country. "I will initiate the quest for cleanliness with myself, my family, my locality, my village and my work place," they swore. "I believe that the countries of the world that appear clean are so because their citizens don't indulge in littering nor do they allow it to happen."
Bureaucrats and ministers had been instructed to lead their departments in cleaning offices, including toilets. They displayed a range of reactions, as Scroll discovered.
Chief Controller of Accounts, Ministry of Home Affairs
Officials here were quite annoyed by Modi’s request to clean their work places. A junior accounts officer who has been travelling around North East India for the last six months had barely found any time to spend with his family. “I had plans to take my family for a vacation in the hills, even the tickets were booked," he said. "This was completely unnecessary. The government should concentrate on building infrastructure like toilets, instead of harassing the common man on a holiday.”
However, there were also some in the office who were rather pleased about this initiative. A directory operator who is not on the government payroll but is working on a daily contract and did not need to come to offices was one of the first to enter her workstation with a bar of soap and a scrub pad. She organised the pending files, cleaned her desk and also scrubbed her computer with soap water, causing a short circuit in the motherboard.
Delhi Development Authority
It was quite a celebration at the DDA office in INA colony. Hundreds of officials gathered outside the main building and ate sweets and samosas to support Modi’s clean India drive. After that, the sweepers on the payroll of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation cleaned the roads of the paper plates in which the DDA officials had their snacks.
Central Vigilance Commission, Ministry of External Affairs
The officials in this department were particularly troubled with the cleanliness drive. Not only was their holiday ruined and travel plans dispensed with, the officials were made to clean toilets in their office building, cut grass, scrub windows and were even seen pruning hedges.
One assistant technical examiner was furious. “I am being forced to do something that I don’t even do at my own house," he said. "We hire domestic help to do such work.”
Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
While the Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan was busy cleaning the New Delhi Railway Station with a broom, his Department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy officials were celebrating the Diwali festival outside their office at the GPO complex. After taking the Swacchta Shapath (cleanliness oath), the female employees made rangoli while the male officials distributed sweets to the families of AYUSH employees who came to see the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan celebrations.
Central Board of Secondary Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development
The education body officials were quite enthusiastic about the cleanliness drive. Taking a cue from Modi’s suggestion to adopt a dirty area and cleaning it, the CBSE officials cleaned a public park in Preet Vihar (East Delhi) after cleaning their office building.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
Modi led a cleanliness pledge at India Gate, joined by 30 lakh government employees across the country. "I will initiate the quest for cleanliness with myself, my family, my locality, my village and my work place," they swore. "I believe that the countries of the world that appear clean are so because their citizens don't indulge in littering nor do they allow it to happen."
Bureaucrats and ministers had been instructed to lead their departments in cleaning offices, including toilets. They displayed a range of reactions, as Scroll discovered.
Chief Controller of Accounts, Ministry of Home Affairs
Officials here were quite annoyed by Modi’s request to clean their work places. A junior accounts officer who has been travelling around North East India for the last six months had barely found any time to spend with his family. “I had plans to take my family for a vacation in the hills, even the tickets were booked," he said. "This was completely unnecessary. The government should concentrate on building infrastructure like toilets, instead of harassing the common man on a holiday.”
However, there were also some in the office who were rather pleased about this initiative. A directory operator who is not on the government payroll but is working on a daily contract and did not need to come to offices was one of the first to enter her workstation with a bar of soap and a scrub pad. She organised the pending files, cleaned her desk and also scrubbed her computer with soap water, causing a short circuit in the motherboard.
Delhi Development Authority
It was quite a celebration at the DDA office in INA colony. Hundreds of officials gathered outside the main building and ate sweets and samosas to support Modi’s clean India drive. After that, the sweepers on the payroll of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation cleaned the roads of the paper plates in which the DDA officials had their snacks.
Central Vigilance Commission, Ministry of External Affairs
The officials in this department were particularly troubled with the cleanliness drive. Not only was their holiday ruined and travel plans dispensed with, the officials were made to clean toilets in their office building, cut grass, scrub windows and were even seen pruning hedges.
One assistant technical examiner was furious. “I am being forced to do something that I don’t even do at my own house," he said. "We hire domestic help to do such work.”
Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
While the Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan was busy cleaning the New Delhi Railway Station with a broom, his Department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy officials were celebrating the Diwali festival outside their office at the GPO complex. After taking the Swacchta Shapath (cleanliness oath), the female employees made rangoli while the male officials distributed sweets to the families of AYUSH employees who came to see the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan celebrations.
Central Board of Secondary Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development
The education body officials were quite enthusiastic about the cleanliness drive. Taking a cue from Modi’s suggestion to adopt a dirty area and cleaning it, the CBSE officials cleaned a public park in Preet Vihar (East Delhi) after cleaning their office building.