Special Campaign 6.0 Earns Rs 491.28 Crore From Scrap

Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh reviewed the mid-campaign progress of Special Swachhata Campaign 6.0 and said the drive is running well ahead of last year's edition on every count that is measured: sites covered, money earned from scrap and office space freed. The campaign is being carried out from 2 October to 31 October 2026.

The figures as on 19 October 2026

The number of sites covered is therefore 3.03 times the figure for the matching period of Special Campaign 5.0 in 2025, while scrap revenue is 1.61 times as large.

Who contributed most

Among ministries and departments, the Department of School Education and Literacy reported the largest number of cleanliness sites at 4,15,353. The Ministry of Railways earned the most from scrap, at Rs 425.06 crore. The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, which steers the campaign, freed 1,200 square feet of space on a single floor of its own premises.

How the campaign has grown

The minister noted that the exercise began with the clearing of physical files and has widened over the editions to electronic files, the management of electronic waste and the disposal of obsolete material, with the recovery of money through scrap sales becoming an important part of it. Alongside cleanliness, the campaign targets pending references and public grievances and frees office space for productive use. Secretaries were asked to take the drive to field offices across the country and to hold dedicated one-day campaigns.

At the review meeting

Secretaries attending in person included Nivedita Shukla Verma of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Rachna Shah of the Department of Personnel and Training, Umesh V. Waghmare of the Department of Science and Technology, Srinivasa Kumar Tummala of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, N. Kalaiselvi of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and Rajesh Sudhir Gokhale of the Department of Biotechnology. The Department of Personnel and Training reported that it has switched to electric vehicles. The Science and Technology Secretary suggested judging office space by utility against availability, an approach the minister asked every ministry to adopt. The minister also pressed for scientific handling of electronic waste and for showcasing technologies that reuse waste, including used cooking oil and plastic.