Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology; Earth Sciences and Minister of State for PMO, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh disclosed here today that total revenue of Rs. 4085 Cr. and 24 Lacs has been earned through five dedicated annual cleanliness (Swachhata) campaigns lasting one month each since 2021, through disposal of scrap, including electronic scrap, from different central government offices as part of Special Swachhata campaign.

Elaborating further, Dr Jitenda Singh recalled that in his very first Independence Day address after becoming Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi had given a call for Swachhata from the ramparts of Red Fort. Soon, this turned into a mass campaign and over four lakh toilets were built in the first year itself. Simultaneously, he said, a campaign was taken up to clear the junk of redundant office files, broken furniture etc. from the government offices.

Giving a chronology, Dr Jitendra Singh said, in each successive year, a new dimension was sought to  be added to this campaign and in the year 2021, on the advice of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, it was decided that while Swachhata was an ongoing continuous movement, during the month of October beginning from the Gandhi Jayanti, 2nd October up to 31st October, there would be a dedicated Special Swachhata campaign in which all the government Ministries and departments would be expected to actively participate and prepare regular reports of the tasks achieved.

For the last three years or so, Dr. Jitendra Singh observed that besides the conventional scrap, there was also a lot of electronic scrap in the offices which could be disposed of not only to generate revenue for the State but could also be converted through recycling to generate wealth from waste. He explained that at the end of the Special Swachhata campaign 4.0 last year nearly Rs. 3,300 crores had been earned to which Rs. 788.53 crore was added through this year's Special Campaign 5.0 lasting from 2nd October to 31st October 2025. As a result, the total amount earned, so far, is over Rs 4085 crore.

Another significant outcome of the Special Swachhata campaign is that as much as 231.75 lac sq ft of space was freed for productive utility which was earlier choked and blocked with waste material, worn out furniture, scrap etc.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said, interestingly the total amount of over 4,085 crore earned by selling off the scrap could be the total budget of one mega Space mission or multiple Chandrayaan Space missions., while the total space freed was enough to bring up a huge mall or some other massive structure for economic activity.

This year's Special Swachhata campaign 5.0, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, also took place at a time when extensive "Waste to Wealth" activity has been undertaken by the Ministry of Science & Technology. This, for example, includes recycling of hospital waste through a technology developed by CSIR-NIIST Thiruvanathapuram and deployed at AIIMS New Delhi, recycling of cooked oil undertaken by CSIR-IIP Dehradun and use of steel sludge for road construction through technology developed by CSIR-CRRI New Delhi, he added.

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NKR/AK