New Delhi, Nov 10 (IANS) The Union Government has earned over Rs 650 crore from the disposal of scrap during the cleanliness campaign carried out in October, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Personnel.

Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's directions, the special campaigns conducted by the government from 2021-24 have generated a revenue of Rs 2,364 crore through scrap disposal and resulted in freeing up more office space for officials to function more effectively, the statement said.

Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said that the special campaign 4.0 was India's largest campaign for institutionalising Swachhata and reducing pendency in the government offices and has witnessed many best practices and milestones.

The saturation approach was adopted in special campaign 4.0 for Swachhata and reduced pendency.

The Special Campaign 4.0 has seen Swachhata campaigns being undertaken in more than 5.97 lakh sites and resulted in freeing up 190 lakh square feet of space for effective office use.

Jitendra Singh said that with every passing year, the size and scale of the Special Campaign was increasing with more than 5.97 lakh sites covered in 2024 as against 2.59 lakh sites in 2023.

The special campaign 4.0 was reviewed by the cabinet ministers, ministers of state and secretaries to the Union government providing leadership and guidance in implementation.

The progress of special campaign 4.0 was monitored on a dedicated portal (https:cdpm.nic.in/SpecialCampaign4) on a daily basis.

Singh appreciated the reduction in pendency in the central secretariat under the special campaign 4.0 with most of the ministries/ departments achieving 90-100 per cent of reported targets.

He called on all officials to continue the momentum of Special Campaign 4.0 throughout the year and make it a way of life.

The campaign concluded on October 31, with outstanding results, and after collating all the data, the evaluation phase will start from November 14, the statement said.

The Ministry also listed the best practices in institutionalising Swachhata that emerged during Special Campaign 4.0. These include scrap cleared from old cooling towers after auctioning through MSTC at Pune Airport, AAI, Ministry of Civil Aviation, scrap cleared from Recreation room, National Bal Bhawan, New Delhi, Ministry of Education, the launch of a special drive for Digital Life Certificate by SBI for Ease of Living for senior and super senior citizens, Department of Financial Services.

Conservation of manuscripts and historical documents by Asiatic Society, Ministry of Culture, crafting a 12.5 feet tall idol of Lord Ganesha with scrap material, Raipur, Ministry of Railways and disposal of about 105.72 lakh sticks of smuggled cigarettes worth Rs 8.7 crore by CBIC also form part of the achievements list.