More than 550 pieces of obsolete government equipment — from ageing desktops to refrigerators — were formally disposed of at Kartavya Bhawan on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, as Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh joined the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) team for an e-waste disposal exercise under Special Swachhata Campaign 6.0.

The haul cleared in a single day tells the scale of the problem government offices routinely sit on: 152 desktops, 35 printers, 8 scanners, 3 photocopier machines, 59 UPS units, 52 air conditioners, 4 television sets, 5 refrigerators, 17 water dispensers, and 217 miscellaneous items — carrying a collective base price of Rs 9 lakh. The drive was led on the ground by Secretary DoPT Smt. Rachna Shah, with officers and staff participating across the board.

₹490 crore in 15 days — and counting

The day's activity sits inside a far bigger national campaign. Running from Gandhi Jayanti (2 October) to Patel Jayanti (31 October) — a deliberate bracketing of the month between two foundational nationalist anniversaries — Special Swachhata Campaign 6.0 was launched in direct response to a call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Within its first 15–17 days, central government ministries and departments have collectively generated approximately ₹490 crore from the disposal of scrap, according to Dr. Singh's post.

That figure is already striking. More striking still is the minister's projection: the tally is 'likely to be more than double by October 31.' If it holds, the campaign will have converted dead government inventory into over ₹1,000 crore in a single month.

GeM Portal: transparency baked into the disposal chain

The mechanism matters as much as the money. All disposals under the campaign are being routed through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) Portal — the same digitised procurement platform that has reshaped how ministries buy goods and services. Applying GeM to the disposal side of the equation is a logical extension: it creates a documented, competitive, auditable trail that replaces the opacity of ad-hoc scrap sales. It is a quiet but consequential governance shift.

Special Swachhata Campaign: from Swachh Bharat to office-level accountability

Special Swachhata Campaigns are a recurring, institutionalised extension of the Swachh Bharat Mission, which PM Modi launched on 2 October 2014. Where Swachh Bharat targeted public spaces and open defecation, the Swachhata Campaigns have turned the lens inward — onto government offices themselves, clearing backlogs, pendency, and physical clutter. Version 6.0 marks the sixth iteration, a sign that what began as a symbolic push has become an annual governance ritual with measurable financial outcomes.

If the revenue projection holds through the month's end, October 2026 will stand as the most financially productive single campaign cycle in the series — a number the government will almost certainly cite as proof that disciplined housekeeping and digital transparency can unlock value hiding in plain sight inside bureaucratic stockrooms.