Puri administration to launch “my dham, my pride” cleanliness drive
BHUBANESWAR: Puri district administration has warned to withhold the salaries of heads of government offices in the district if they fail to ensure cleanliness on the premises of their establishments. The administration’s warning has come with its announcement to launch Mo Dham, Mo Garba (my Dham, my pride)—a week-long cleanliness drive—in Puri from November 1.
Puri district collector Balwant Singh held a meeting with heads of the government offices, schools and colleges under his jurisdiction on Thursday and requested them to keep their workplaces spick and span.
The administration said Puri, one of the four holy dhams in the country, will attract more tourists if it looks clean. Officials said ‘my Dham, my pride’ campaign is aimed at promoting the state government’s ambitious Jagannath heritage corridor project.
“Our objective is to make each and every office Swachh (clean) and waste-free. Heads of the offices should sensitize their staff and take steps to keep the campuses clean. If we find any office dirty and unclean, we will take action against the office head and withhold his or her salary,” Singh said.
To encourage his staff in achieving the ‘Swachh office’ goal, the district collector announced rewards for top three offices and educational institutions which fulfil the cleanliness parameters. “We are in the process of drawing a standard operating procedure (SOP) for assessment of the cleanliness index basing on which rewards will be given to the top three performers. An agency may be engaged for the evaluation,” said Bijay Kumar Dash, executive officer of Puri municipality.
The district administration plans mass mobilization of people during the week-long special drive. Singh appealed to people of all walks of life to take a pledge to keep their homes, offices and surroundings clean during the campaign. “We expect the participation of nearly 3 lakh people in the cleanliness drive. Our Mo Beach cleanliness drive is already a big success,” collector Singh said.