Babus told to junk old files to unclutter desks

Babus in the Delhi Secretariat seem to have ignored instructions to clean up their working areas and their cold response has now invited a strongly-worded reminder to unclutter their desks by removing old and unnecessary documents.

The direction came ahead of the announcement on the launch of ‘Clean Delhi’ drive between November 22 and 30 by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and three mayors on Monday.

An Android app for the public to report unattended garbage and waste was also launched and Kejriwal later tweeted: “Pl join swach Dilli abhiyan. Lets make Delhi garbage n malba free. Do RT.”

On the issue of cleanliness in the Players’ Building – the seat of Kejriwal government, sources said several instructions to staff for cleaning up the office surroundings have gone unheard, prompting the General Administration Department to issue a fresh circular last week.

In view of the circular, heads of departments like audit have issued instructions to subordinates to be mindful of the need for “strict compliance” of the instructions to ensure cleanliness. The note said that during past inspections it has been observed that “old files, records and obsolete office appliances are piled up” either under or on the tables, almirahs, cabinets, racks and workstations and sometimes even on the floor and corridor, which give a shabby look to the entire room and area.

Kejriwal is said to be keen to clean up the office premises even at the cost of junking old documents. A circular issued by the GAD also made this clear by asking department heads to ensure that work area was “devoid of any unusable records or equipments” making it fully uncluttered.

“In the process, if some weeding out of old records and office equipment and appliances is required, the same should be ensure forthwith,” said the circular of a GAD official. The instructions for cleanliness followed inspections by teams formed by the GAD under the Swachh Bharat Mission during which laxity was found in discarding unimportant items.

While launching the Swachh Delhi App for cleanliness, Kejriwal said senders of photographs of garbage and concrete waste will be sent follow-up messages and in case they are not satisfied with the work, they can send the reminder again.

Smart phone users can give a missed call on 7666400400, following which they will receive an SMS containing the link to download this app. It can also be downloaded free of cost from Google Playstore.

The three mayors assured co-operation from three municipalities for the ‘Clean Delhi’ initiative.