With the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan appearing to be losing steam after its grand launch on October 2, Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung on Monday directed the local bodies and all departments of the Delhi Government to submit a detailed action plan for the next two months by October 27.
The L-G has also cancelled the weekly off of all the government agencies in the city on October 25 to ensure that all officers are on the field monitoring cleanliness work post-Diwali.
Mr. Jung on Monday held two back-to-back review meetings of some of the key departments and the office bearers of the civic bodies to assess the cleanliness drive over the past one month. Sources, however, said the L-G pulled up the senior officers, especially those from the local bodies.
Asserting that “there has to be visible improvement, supported by evidence” in the level of cleanliness in the city, the L-G also put in place some measures for better implementation and monitoring of the drive. It includes setting up a Cleanliness Control Room by the Chief Secretary at the Secretariat, submission of weekly reports of inspection and work done, besides independent inspection by the Deputy Commissioners about the work done by all the agencies.
“The Chief Secretary has been asked by the L-G to set up a control room in the Delhi Secretariat, together with posting of staff and mechanism for receiving calls, messages and information related to cleanliness,” an official said.
In order to make senior most officers accountable for implementation of the campaign, the L-G directed that the Secretaries and Heads of the Department would be the Nodal Officers in charge of all cleanliness related matters of the department. The responsibility shall not be delegated further down the chain of command, though each department may internally create its own mechanism of monitoring work.
The Nodal Officers shall have to send weekly reports of work done with visual evidence of the work done (with before and after pictures and clips).
“The report must be detailed, supported by full evidence of inspections and work done. The report would also have to have a detailed plan for the upcoming week. The reports shall be submitted to the Chief Secretary and Secretary (UD) each Friday, which shall be forwarded to the L-G every Monday, an official said.
The L-G has also directed the Deputy Commissioners to verify the work done in their districts and submit an independent report to the L-G, Chief Secretary and Secretary (UD), officials said.
The L-G also directed that all officers including secretaries shall be in the field, ensuring cleanliness and sanitation coming Saturday. “They will submit a report at the end of the day on October 25. They have been directed to submit their targets for the 25th by the 24th evening to the L-G, Chief Secretary and Secretary (UD),” an official said.
