Swachhata Hi Seva 2026: Health Ministry Holds Shramdaan

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare carried out a voluntary cleanliness drive, called a shramdaan, in New Delhi on 1 October 2026 under the Swachhata Hi Seva 2026 campaign. The spot chosen for the drive was the stretch near Gate No. 3 of Kartavya Bhavan-1 on Dr. Rajendra Prasad Marg.

Who led the drive

Dr. Rajiv Bahl led the shramdaan. He is Secretary of the Department of Health Research and also serves as Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Talking to reporters at the site, he said that keeping surroundings clean has to become a steady, shared effort rather than a one-off gesture, and he urged officers as well as ordinary citizens to pitch in.

Senior officials who joined

• Smt. Aradhana Patnaik — Additional Secretary and Mission Director of the National Health Mission (NHM)
• Dr. Rakesh Gupta — Additional Secretary and Director General of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO)
• Dr. Loveneesh G. Krishna — Director General of Health Services (DGHS)
• Other senior officers and staff members of the Ministry

Smt. Aradhana Patnaik spoke on Jan Bhagidari, that is people’s participation, and on what each person owes to the places they share. Clean public spaces last, she said, only where every individual joins in and acts responsibly.

The campaign and its theme

The theme of the campaign is Ek Din, Ek Ghanta, Ek Saath, which means one day, one hour, together. Staff and officers worked with visible enthusiasm, mirroring the idea of joint action that the theme carries. Swachhata Hi Seva 2026 is running across the country with the aim of deepening Jan Bhagidari and pulling citizens into the work of keeping the country clean. Its argument is that cleanliness cannot be left to institutions alone: it is a promise the whole society makes, and it needs people to keep taking part at the level of their own neighbourhood.

Cleanliness and public health

The Ministry repeated its pledge to the aims of Swachh Bharat and pointed to the tight link between clean surroundings, public health and healthy living. Three things matter, it said, if public places are to become cleaner, healthier and easier to sustain: awareness that does not fade, waste handled with care, and citizens who take part of their own accord.

Important facts at a glance