Modi government's cleanliness campaign has robbed several officials of a vacation. Government officials will have to report to work on October 2, so that they can take a 'Swacchta Shapath' (cleanliness oath) formulated by the Cabinet Secretariat.
Following the oath, officials are expected to undertake a cleanliness drive in which ministers will take part, complete with a broom, and indulge in other activities devised by each ministry. Gandhi Jayanti has always been a government holiday. Coupled with the October 3 holiday on account of Dussehra, the weekend following it and Id-Ul-Zuha holiday on Monday, several officials had made reservations for a vacation, but the cleanliness drive has upset their plans.
The "dream and historic spell of holidays", as a senior bureaucrat in the home ministry put it, that gave a 5-day break from work had prompted many officials to reserve rail or air tickets for the vacation. Many officials told ET that they are now trying to cancel or reorganise their vacation.
Even if some of them still manage to replan the vacation, it will only be after some real hard-work. On orders from Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, all ministries on Thursday embarked on a weeklong intensive cleanliness campaign which involves cleaning toilets in the ministry, cutting grass in the lawns in the ministry's vicinity, pruning hedges, removing clogging of water in drains, operationalising fountains with clean water, scrubbing window panes, concealing electric wires and giving a fresh coat of paint to corridors in the ministry.
All section officers have been asked to oversee this exercise. In a September 20 note that ET has seen Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth asked secretaries of all ministries to take the cleanliness drive in government offices and public buildings "to the next level so that there is visible impact". Seth asked ministries for a comprehensive action plan to be sent to him by September 22, "so that Prime Minister Narendra Modican be briefed" and asked senior bureaucrats to take the lead.
Following the oath, officials are expected to undertake a cleanliness drive in which ministers will take part, complete with a broom, and indulge in other activities devised by each ministry. Gandhi Jayanti has always been a government holiday. Coupled with the October 3 holiday on account of Dussehra, the weekend following it and Id-Ul-Zuha holiday on Monday, several officials had made reservations for a vacation, but the cleanliness drive has upset their plans.
The "dream and historic spell of holidays", as a senior bureaucrat in the home ministry put it, that gave a 5-day break from work had prompted many officials to reserve rail or air tickets for the vacation. Many officials told ET that they are now trying to cancel or reorganise their vacation.
Even if some of them still manage to replan the vacation, it will only be after some real hard-work. On orders from Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, all ministries on Thursday embarked on a weeklong intensive cleanliness campaign which involves cleaning toilets in the ministry, cutting grass in the lawns in the ministry's vicinity, pruning hedges, removing clogging of water in drains, operationalising fountains with clean water, scrubbing window panes, concealing electric wires and giving a fresh coat of paint to corridors in the ministry.
All section officers have been asked to oversee this exercise. In a September 20 note that ET has seen Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth asked secretaries of all ministries to take the cleanliness drive in government offices and public buildings "to the next level so that there is visible impact". Seth asked ministries for a comprehensive action plan to be sent to him by September 22, "so that Prime Minister Narendra Modican be briefed" and asked senior bureaucrats to take the lead.
Source:-The Economic Times
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