New government’s mantra: Cleanliness
Government staff all over the state pledge to devote 100 hours a year to cleanliness
Government employees all over the state are taking an oath of cleanliness in their departments since Monday, when chief minister Yogi Adityanath administered this oath to IAS officers at his first meeting with them.
The phenomenon has spread to state government establishments all over Uttar Pradesh and videos of officers and employees at mass oath ceremonies have become a common sight in media and social media.
And what do the oath takers pledge? The government has circulated the text for the oath among departments. A minister or a head of the department reads out this text which covers an A4 side sheet from top to bottom. The oath is in Hindi and begins with invoking Mahatama Gandhi’s belief that he not only dreamt of an independent but also a developed and clean India.
Then the oath says: “Every year I will devote 100 hoursa year to cleanliness, that is, I will do voluntary cleanliness work two hours each week. I will begin with myself, my family, my locality, my village and my workplace.”
The oath ends with: “I am aware that the one step towards cleanliness that I will take, will go a long way in making the entire India clean.”
Needless to state, everyone seems to be appreciating the idea.
On Wednesday, nearly 300 employees who work at the Vikas Bhawan in Gorakhpur were administered cleanliness oath by the commissioner. “Everyone in office is happy over the decision. This should be strictly implemented to ensure that office premises are clean,” said Santosh Srivastav, senior assistant at Vikas Bhawan, whose chamber is next to that of chief development officer Mannan Akhtar.
Sports minister Chetan Chauhan administered the oath of cleanliness to the UP Sports Directorate officials as well as sportspersons on Thursday morning.
Deputy chief minister and education minister Dinesh Sharma administered the oath of keeping the education directorate and secretariat clean to all the employees.
Energy minister Shrikant Sharma administered the oath to Shakti Bhavan officials. He said all power corporation offices should remain neat and clean.
Everyone in office is happy over the decision. This should be strictly implemented to ensure that office premises are clean SANTOSH SRIVASTAV, senior assistant at Vikas Bhawan