Swachhta Pakhwada Update

Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) was launched by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India on 2nd October, 2014 as a mass movement to achieve the target of Clean India by the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in 2019. As a part of the process the Ministry of the Drinking Water and Sanitation assigned first Fortnight of November, 2016 (1-15th November, 2016) for undertaking cleanliness activities. The Department and PSUs were fully geared up to undertake a number of activities to carry forward the mission of cleanliness. An Action Plan was chalked out for carrying out the mission of cleanliness during, the Swachhta Pakhwara. The Pakhwara was extended to 20th November, 2016 to factor in the Airtel Marathon on 20th November, 2016 which also specially featured Swachhta and spreading awareness about it.

The Department of Telecommuni-cations and its PSUs viz. Bharat Sanchar-Nigam Limited (BSNL), Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL), Indian Telephone Industries Limited (ITI Ltd.), Telecom Consultants India Limited (TCIL), and Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) took active part in Swachhta Campaign and carried out cleanliness not only in the office premises and nearby areas but also took up cleanliness in cities of their location. The cleanliness was focused on office chambers, equipment, library, canteen, unwanted records, pathways, corridors, toilets, etc. As a result of the involvement of all officers and staff, the standard of cleanliness has considerably gone up. The process would continue so that the gaps are bridged and the standard of cleanliness is maintained.

The Telephone Exchanges of BSNL and MTNL (27,600) were specifically identified for cleanliness apart from the inspection quarters and guest houses. These Exchanges and facilities were cleaned in terms of their entrances and equipment. This process will continue. A number of locations throughout the country were covered for cleanliness, namely:

(i) Telephone Exchanges at Silvasa, Daman, Gangtok, Jabalpur, Goa, Mumbai and various other locations.

(ii) Marina Beach at Chennai.

(iii) Immambara at Lucknow.

(iv) Ganga Sagar at Kolkata.

(v) Gateway of India at Mumbai.

(vi) Krishnrajpuram Vegetable Market at Bangalore.

(vii) Ashoka Road, Nehru Place underpass and Kalkaji at Delhi.

(viii) Juhu Beach at Mumbai.

(ix) Jetty at Daman.

(x) A number of other locations were also visited.

To spread awareness about Swachhta, messages prepared by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation were sent to mobile subscribers throughout the country.

Some of the Telephone Service Providers (TSPs) also contributed to the cause of Swachhta. M/s Bharti Airtel organised Marathon on 20th November, 2016 which especially featured Swachhta. M/s Reliance Jio, M/s Reliance Communications Limited, M/s Tata Teleservices and M/s Idea Cellular Limited undertook, throughout the country, cleaning of their office premises, pledges on Swachhta, Shram Daan and various other outreach activities on cleanliness.

The Department of Telecommunications  has announced that it will continue to undertake such cleanliness drives throughout the year.