Cleanliness became more than a slogan at Loknayak Bhavan on Monday, October 26, 2026 — it became furniture, a reading hall, and a selfie spot built from scrap. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Personnel, Dr. Jitendra Singh, reviewed the Special Swachhata Campaign at the premises of Loknayak Bhavan and the Department of Pensions and Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW), capping the visit by inaugurating two new additions created entirely from waste recovered during the drive.

Safai staff felicitated, eco-friendly kits distributed

The minister did not merely inspect — he recognised. Dr. Singh felicitated the safai (sanitation) workforce by personally presenting eco-friendly bags and cleanliness kits to staff members, acknowledging the quiet, daily labour that keeps central government offices functional. The gesture underlines a recurring theme in the current government's Swachhata push: that behavioural change begins with honouring those who do the actual work.

Waste-to-wonder: Library, reading hall, and a staff-built selfie point

The headline moment of the visit was the inauguration of a Library-cum-Reading Hall carved out of reallocated space — and a new Selfie Point constructed by office staff themselves from waste and scrap recovered during the cleanliness drive. Both additions signal something the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) has been encouraging across ministries: turning a one-time campaign into lasting infrastructure. A selfie point built from discarded material is, in its own way, a monument to the drive.

PM Modi's call for Swachhata as work culture, not a one-off event

Dr. Singh used the occasion to reiterate the philosophy behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi's original call for Swachhata — that it must become 'a part of our life as well as a part of our work culture', not a periodically scheduled event. The Swachh Bharat Mission, launched in October 2014, has since evolved well beyond street-level cleanliness into a mandate for transforming the culture of government offices. Special Swachhata Campaigns in central government departments have been a vehicle for that shift since 2017, combining waste reduction, space repurposing, and staff recognition in periodic drives coordinated by DARPG.

The sixth edition of the campaign — tagged #SpecialSwachhataCampaign6 — suggests the initiative has reached a cadence of institutional habit rather than exceptional effort. That, perhaps, is precisely the point PM Modi's vision intended from the start.