The Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region (MDoNER) along with their organisations has actively participated in the Special Campaign 2.0 for Swachhata, from 2nd October, 2022 to 31st October, 2022.
The campaign focused on the Ministry’s field offices at various places in North East States. The cleanliness drives were carried out at 34 identified sites including the offices of MDoNER, NEC, NEDFi, NEHHDC, NERAMAC & NECBDC. The highlight of the campaign was the widespread participation of employees and the general public. Revenue of Rs.1, 07,697/- have been generated from NEDFi & NEC sites from disposal of scraps.
During this campaign, 550 identified physical files have been weeded out. Out of 313 electronic files, 213 have been closed in accordance with DARPG guidelines.
Pictures from Swachhata initiatives have been shared on our social media platforms regularly.
The officer of MDoNER also visited the sites at Guwahati & Shillong identified for Swachhata Campaign to review the progress of the campaign.
MDoNER shall try to carry forward the idea of Swachh Bharat to new heights in coming future.
The implementation phase of the Special Campaign 2.0 has been completed by Ministry of Culture(MoC) which began with a daylong workshop at National Archive of India (NAI) for all officers of MoC with special focus on record management and files archiving guidelines and discussions. During this phase, some of the achievements are:
About 65% of pending MP references have been disposed.
100 % disposal in the IMC References
About 80% of Public Grievances filed have been completed.
About 55% disposal of pending PMO references as on date.
2 Rules/Processes have been identified and simplified.
100% physical files earmarked for review, have been reviewed.
All 225 Swachhata Campaign sites identified have been cleaned up successfully.
Revenue of INR 38,52,946/- generated from disposal of scraps.
The Ministry’s office premise at Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi, underwent extensive cleaning activities to have a cleaner work environment and to create optimal usage of the office space. The overall inspection and supervision was done by Secretary ,Culture Shri Govind Mohan and JS (Admin).
Secretary (Culture) monitoring the Cleanliness Activities at MoC
Various divisions of MoC were duly sensitized to monitor and over see this campaign in the field offices. The ministry received positive responses from its attached offices, subordinate offices and autonomous bodies i.e. Museums, National Libraries, Akademies, Buddhist Institutions etc. Some of the highlights are given below.
The ASI undertook the campaign with utmost seriousness and organized large scale cleanliness drives across the country through its different regional circles ranging from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Arunachal to Gujarat. Needless to say clean monuments improve the tourists’ footfall.
Cleaning Activities at Centrally Protected Monuments by ASI
It took up this campaign to Left Wing Extremism Area(LTEA) e.g Bastar area of Chhattisgarh. The Sub- Regional Centre, Jagdalpur of (ANRC) actively participated in the Special Campaign 2.0 with innovative ideas like transforming the bushes-ridden campus into raising a clean traditional Dorla tribal hut which will further expand the existing open-air anthropological museum with community participation. The staff members first cleaned the campus on 2nd Oct’22. After that, the Dorla tribal community members were contacted for their participation thereby reinforcing the Jan-Bhagidari objective of the Govt. The side walls of the homes are generally made by plastering mud over bamboo wattle or slender twigs. Date palm leaves are used to do the thatching of the house.
Cleanliness activities with the local community
This Dorla hut will act as a centre for dissemination of information and knowledge on the bio-cultural aspect of the people of the region.
Authentic Dorla Tribal Hut Setup
The AnRC, Port Blair, carried out a series of cleanliness activities in and around the office and museum building from 2nd -19th Oct’22. A special cleanliness drive was carried out by clearing the bushes and garbage behind the office-cum-library building at the entrance gate of Zonal Anthropological Museum (ZAM) on 17th Oct’22.
CleanlinessactivitiesandBeautification of the office premises
A special drive was initiated towards utilization of the unused areas in the museum campus. The bushes, non-timber plants and wild grasses occupying the said area have been cleared. In the cleaned up area, traditional dwelling units/huts of the Nicobarese tribe from the Nicobar Islands will be raised. These huts were built using the natural materials available from the tribe’s habitat to maintain indigeneity. This was carried out with the involvement of the tribal leader/ captain of the Tribal Council along with the assistance from the local people. This will also be a learning stint on eco-friendly living, for local people from the tribal culture of that region. Along with that, traditional Jarawa tribal huts and Shompen tribal huts were also set up with the help of the tribal communities in the region. The construction of all these tribal huts was completed by 30th Oct’22.
Shompen Tribal Hut Nicobarese Tribal Hut Jarawa Tribal Hut
These tribal traditional huts would now give an exposure to tourists about the types of eco-friendly huts/dwellings being used by Indigenous societies .
AnSI’s Southern Regional Center, located in Bogadi, Mysorecleared and cleaned almost 2.5 acre of unused land in its backward as due to overgrowth of bushes it started inviting wild animals occasionally and 1.5 acre of land has been used for some special purposes including setting up a “Yoga
Track” and developing as a special heritage spot of tribal habitation. The center had invited the people from Betta Kuruba tribal community to construct their traditional hut in such a natural ambience. Additionally, a small village hut is also constructed in another corner of the area which will be used as a cafeteria for the staff members as well as the visitors.
Betta Kuruba Tribal Hut Village Hut cum Cafeteria Yoga Track
In the ANSI’s North East Regional Centre at Shillong, Meghalaya,extensive cleaning and beautification of the office premises was organized with the help of all the staff members in the office. The office garden underwent intensive cleaning along with addition of a new sitting arrangement, flower beds and more in view of the prevailing weather conditions caused by the cyclonic storm “Sitrang”. To bring out the beauty of the local Khasi culture, traditional Monoliths were also set up in the office premises. These Monolith arrangements were of two types – ‘Mawbynna ’or ‘Mawnam ’which consists of three upright stones with a flat table stone in front and ‘Maw-Shongthait’ which are flat table stones, accompanied by vertical stones which serves as seats for weary travelers.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of CPG and HKSAR signed the Arrangement on Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation Preparatory Office in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (with photos)
The Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, signed the Arrangement on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation Preparatory Office in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the Central People’s Government and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) (Arrangement) in the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in October 2022.
The People’s Republic of China and various foreign states jointly drafted and signed the Joint Statement on the Future Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation (Joint Statement), and decided to jointly initiate the establishment of the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed).
The IOMed will be an international inter-governmental organisation established through consultations among all parties. It will provide friendly, flexible, economical and efficient mediation services for international disputes. It will be a useful supplement to the existing dispute resolution institutions and means of dispute resolution, providing a new platform for the peaceful settlement of international disputes. The membership of the IOMed will maintain openness and inclusiveness.
Pursuant to the Joint Statement, a preparatory office (IOMed Preparatory Office) will be set up in the HKSAR. It is expected that, from 2023, the IOMed Preparatory Office will commence and organise the negotiation of the relevant international convention and the preparatory work relating to the establishment of the IOMed. As the only common law jurisdiction in the country under “one country, two systems”, the HKSAR has a robust legal system, a solid foundation of rule of law, a diverse range of legal and dispute resolution services, as well as legal talents with international perspectives.
“The establishment of the IOMed Preparatory Office in the HKSAR is a much welcomed development and shows the great support from our motherland to maintaining the city’s unique status under ‘one country, two systems’. It also signifies a vote of confidence by the states signing the Joint Statement in placing their trust in the HKSAR as the location for the IOMed Preparatory Office. We believe that this would strengthen the HKSAR as an international legal and dispute resolution services centre in the Asia Pacific region under the National 14th Five-Year Plan and the Greater Bay Area Development Plan”, said the Secretary for Justice.
To give effect to the Joint Statement, the MFA and the Department of Justice of the Government of the HKSAR have signed the Arrangement, which contains provisions relating to, among other things, the establishment of the IOMed Preparatory Office, its status, and the privileges and immunities of the IOMed Preparatory Office and the persons connected with it. The Arrangement will come into effect after the relevant legislative work has been completed in the HKSAR.
In this regard, the International Organizations (Privileges and Immunities) Ordinance (Chapter 558) (Ordinance) needs to be amended by the International Organizations (Privileges and Immunities) (Amendment) Bill 2022 (Bill) in order to provide that the privileges and immunities of bodies concerned in the establishment of international organisations, and of persons connected with such bodies, under arrangements between the MFA and the HKSAR Government, may be implemented in Hong Kong. After the Bill comes into effect, the Government will proceed with the legislative exercise for the relevant subsidiary legislation under the amended Ordinance in order to implement the Arrangement. The Bill will be gazetted on November 4 (Friday), and will then be introduced into the Legislative Council on November 9 (Wednesday).
Special Campaign 2.0 is being undertaken in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs during the month of October, 2022 in line with the campaign being undertaken in a big way across the country in all Ministries / Departments. The campaign this year seeks to build upon the impressive results which were achieved last year under Special Campaign 1.0 carried out during October, 2021. It started with the preparatory phase from 14th to 30th September, 2022 in which clear targets were set for the campaign period. The focus this year has been on field offices and on attached offices / subordinate offices.
After the identification during the preparatory phase, important areas of focus that emerged were pending disposals of public grievances (335 Nos.), references from MPs (72 Nos.), public grievance appeals (94 Nos.) besides review of 12,670 physical files and 207 e-files.
Cleanliness campaign across all offices across the country is the most important part of the campaign. It is another step forward to institutionalize ‘Swachhta’ as an integral part of our life and make it a truly ‘Jan Andolan’. Around 300 offices across the country are enthusiastically participating in the Swachhta Campaign. As of 19th October, 2022, the disposal of pending matters is proceeding with full steam and the Ministry is all set to achieve its targets. One of the offices under the Ministry, Department of Publications, Civil Lines, New Delhi, has been covered by the Doordarshan team as a part of its coverage of various offices across the country. The Ministry has been regularly publicizing its activities on the social media.
As a part of the special campaign, the Ministry had facilitated the tie-up of various offices across the country with Self Help Groups (SHGs) in different States / Union Territories. Under the arrangement, the SHGs are offered space for kiosk in respective offices where they can collect various office waste for recycling. This is intended to promote ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ (3Rs) as a part of Swachhta Campaign.
In Nirman Bhawan, the Ministry has set up a kiosk by Jivika Self Help Group . The experiment has turned out to be a resounding success with the SHG reporting brisk sales of products made of waste paper. The experiment has also popularized Madhubani Paintings (carved on the products made by SHG) in its own small way.
Inspired by the speech of Hon’ble Prime Minister on 15th August 2021, Government of India launched the Special Campaign in 2021 in Sept-Oct 21 focused on cleanliness all around, reducing pendency and improving work-culture at the work places.
Enthused by the success of this Special Campaign, Government launched its sequel in September’2022 as ‘Special Campaign 2.0’ with increased targets and scope to further promote cleanliness and good governance in all spheres of working through improved work-culture.
In consonance with the philosophy of Special Campaign 2.0, Ministry of Railways has set wide scope for itself in all spheres of its working keeping in view IR’s presence over the length and breadth of the country. Ministry of Railways has taken up its all 7337 stations for Cleanliness Campaign, which is a mammoth task to deliver. A special emphasis has been laid for mechanized cleaning of stations. Special focus has been given on cleanliness of trains and stations (including approaches to major stations) and collection and safe disposal of plastic and other waste. One such effort by Bangalore Railway Station was appreciated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister.
From Oct 2nd onwards, Ministry of Railways has already held more than 7000 cleanliness campaigns which cover its stations, offices, workshops, Production Units and other offices. More than One lakh physical files and around 30000 e-files have been identified to be reviewed. 65% target has already been achieved in this regard. All employees from top to bottom are geared up & deeply involved in disposal of pending matters including VIP/MP/MLA references and Parliamentary, State Govt/PMO References, around 50% achievement has already been registered so far. In the 20 days of Special Campaign 2.0, Ministry of Railways has disposed of more than 2300 VIP References, 130 State Govt References and more than 2 Lakh Public Grievances. Campaigns are being closely supervised and held by Senior most officers of the units who are taking rounds of their offices frequently to spread importance and awareness.
Several other initiatives have also been taken during this Campaign which include development of IT applications for online processing and disposal of VIP(MP/MLA) References and Parliamentary References such as matters raised during Zero Hour and under Section 377 in Parliament by MPs.
IT application developed indigenously for monitoring of VIP References entail various features like registration(uploading) of reference, marking/sending to unit/officer(s), receipt of replies from them, processing by unit concerned as well as submission of replies to be issued from Minister of Railways/MoS/GM/DRM, as the case maybe. Number of MIS reports can be generated to see status Subject/VIP/State/Unit(Directorate/Zonal Railway etc.)/Time Period. The system also generates weekly alerts through e-mails and SMS to concerned officials. The Hon’ble Minister/Officers can peruse and show the reply to particular public representative with just a click of the button.
Another module relating to real time monitoring of parliamentary references has also been developed on similar lines with all features of MIS built for monitoring of VIP references.
The developments of these two applications has enabled Ministry of Railways to dispose of these references and have contributed immensely in the Special Campaign 2.0.
In addition, public grievances are also monitored through the ‘Rail Madad portal’ which provides real time redressal of grievances and online monitoring of the pendency and disposal of these grievances.
MOR has also decided to switch over to completely paperless working from 1st November by digitalizing all business processes and file work through e-office system.
Such efforts are not only innovative and commendable but most importantly remind us of our basic civic duty of keeping our surroundings and public places clean. https://t.co/vyEE857mcH
