'Rs 254 cr earned from disposing scrap, 37.1 lakh sq ft space freed'

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday claimed that it has earned Rs 254.21 crore from scrap disposal besides easing of 588 rules during the ongoing cleanliness campaign under six-week-long Special Swachhta Campaign 2.0

initiative.

While talking to reporters, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said that 40 lakh files have been reviewed and 37.19 lakh square feet of space freed so far. "Tremendous enthusiasm is being witnessed in ministries/departments for institutionalising Swachhata and minimising pendency," he stressed.

"The campaign has inculcated a behavioural change and led to innovation in governance. There were 68,363 Swachhata campaign sites and 40.52 lakh files (including e-files and physical files) were reviewed," he said while talking to the media at his official residence.

Singh, who was flanked by Information & Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra, Postal Secretary Vineet Pandey, DARPG Secretary V Srinivas, DARE Secretary Himanshu Pathak, further said that while reviewing the progress of week 3 of "special campaign 2.0" implemented in all government offices of India, it was found that a significant progress was achieved in the period October 2-October 25.

As many as 3,20,152 public grievances have been redressed, 37.19 lakh square feet of space was freed and 5,416 references from the Members of Parliament (MPs) were also processed, he said, adding the campaign will continue till October 31.

On the occasion, DARPG Secretary V Srinivas said, "Impact of the cleanliness campaign is visible. Rules and processes have already been identified for simplification. The campaign has brought out many positive changes so far."

While talking about initiatives being undertaken in his department as part of the campaign, I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra said, "An electronic billing system (e-billing) will be implemented by the year-end to process grants of government advertisements to newspapers and their billing."

Underlining the achievements of the Postal Department, Secretary Vineet Pandey said, "Roof top solar panels have been installed after clearing space from the roof that resulted in saving of Rs 4 lakh/month electricity bill at Dak Bhawan."

"The Department of Post has discontinued the wax sealing which is currently used to air lock postal deliveries. It would help in eliminating noxious fumes which are spurious for the environment and the postal staff. The department has also opened a Parcel café Kolkata GPO by refurbishing its old furniture for enhancing customer experience," the DoP secretary said.