Officers in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation are keeping the Sanitation Department on its feet as they have started using a WhatsApp group to share cleanliness-related complaints and send orders to their subordinates.
Ongoing driveFrom Commissioner Manish Gupta onwards, officials are sharing pictures of mounds of garbage, inadequate sanitation staff and unsightly dumps of debris. The group was started on September 5 and it coincides with the SDMC’s ongoing cleanliness drive. The members of the group include Additional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, heads of departments and sanitation and engineering officials.
Mr. Gupta said while on his way to a meeting he saw some garbage that had not been picked up.
Clicked and cleanedHe took a photo and shared it on the group. The officials concerned, the Zonal Deputy Commissioner and sanitary supervisors, then had the issue addressed and sent back a picture of the cleaned spot.
“The biggest advantage has been that people are able to see others work and this has led to healthy competition between officials of different zones,” said Mr. Gupta.
Proving themselvesOfficials of the four zones under the SDMC are trying to prove themselves by sending pictures of clean streets and garbage dhalaos (collection points). An official joked that if one zone shares four photos, the other zones will try to share five.