India's science and technology establishment is gearing up for its most expansive annual cleanliness push yet. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Jitendra Singh on Wednesday, September 30 chaired a preparedness review for Special Swachhata Campaign 6.0 — a month-long nationwide drive scheduled to run from October 2 to October 31 — alongside Secretaries and senior officers of the Science Ministries and Departments.

Over 1,600 cleanliness sites across two science ministries

The numbers tell the story of scale. The Ministry of Science and Technology — which oversees major bodies including DST, DBT, and CSIR — has set a target of over 1,500 cleanliness campaign sites for the drive. The Ministry of Earth Sciences, which manages meteorology, oceanography and polar research through agencies such as IMD, has committed to over 100 cleanliness campaign sites. Together, that brings the combined target to more than 1,600 sites spread across S&T institutions nationwide.

October 2 launch: scrap removal, e-waste disposal, old file shredding

Dr. Singh will personally flag off the drive from the national capital on October 2 — a date that carries symbolic weight as Gandhi Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and the foundational date of the Swachh Bharat Mission. The minister has outlined three specific actions for the launch day: cleaning of accumulated scrap, segregation and disposal of e-waste, and shredding of old files — all three among the most stubborn clutter challenges in large government office complexes.

Where Special Swachhata Campaign fits in India's cleanliness governance

The Special Swachhata Campaign is an annual central-government initiative that emerged from the broader Swachh Bharat Mission, launched in 2014, which aimed to transform sanitation standards across public institutions and spaces. Each yearly edition tasks ministries and their attached offices with clearing office waste, disposing of records that have crossed their retention period, and responsibly managing e-waste — a growing problem in India's expanding bureaucratic and scientific infrastructure. The '6.0' edition reflects the campaign's maturity as a recurring governance mechanism rather than a one-off exercise.

The involvement of all S&T institutions across the country means the exercise stretches from central research laboratories to regional earth-science monitoring stations — a footprint that makes this one of the larger sectoral mobilisations within the campaign's framework.

What to watch through October 31

The headline numbers — sites targeted, tonnes of scrap removed, volumes of e-waste disposed — will be the real measure of the drive's reach when the month concludes. With the minister personally leading the kickoff, institutional compliance pressure will be high. Whether the target of over 1,600 combined sites translates into verifiable, documented disposal data will determine how this edition benchmarks against its predecessors.

India's science ministries have just set a high bar. The country will be watching whether its laboratories, weather stations, and research campuses clear it by October 31.