Govt earned nearly Rs 4100 crore by disposing of scrap from offices in 5 years
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New Delhi (PTI): Union minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday shared that the government has earned nearly Rs 4100 crore in the last five years from the disposal of scrap, including electronic items, from various central government offices as part of its cleanliness campaign.
Singh, the union minister of state for personnel, explained that at the end of the special Swachhata (cleanliness) campaign 4.0 last year, nearly Rs 3,300 crore had been earned, to which Rs 788.53 crore was added through this year's special campaign 5.0 lasting from October 2 to October 31 2025. As a result, the total amount earned, so far, is over Rs 4088.53 crore.
"Total revenue of Rs 4088.53 crore has been earned through five dedicated annual cleanliness campaigns lasting one month each since 2021, through disposal of scrap, including electronic scrap, from different central government offices as part of the special Swachhata campaign," he said.
The minister recalled that during his first Independence Day address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a cleanliness initiative from the ramparts of the Red Fort. This appeal sparked a mass movement, resulting in the construction of over four lakh toilets in the first year alone, he noted.
Singh mentioned that a campaign was initiated to clear out redundant office files, broken furniture, and other junk from government offices.
Providing a timeline, the minister stated that each year, new dimensions were added to the campaign. In 2021, following the prime minister's advice, it was decided that while the Swachhata movement would continue, there would be a dedicated special Swachhata campaign from October 2 (Gandhi Jayanti) to October 31, in which all government ministries and departments were expected to actively participate and regularly report on their progress.
For the last three years or so, Singh said that besides the conventional scrap, there was also a lot of electronic scrap in the offices, which could be disposed of not only to generate revenue for the state but could also be converted through recycling to generate wealth from waste.
Another significant outcome of the campaign is that as much as 231.75 lakh square feet of space was cleared for productive use that was previously occupied by waste materials, worn-out furniture, and scrap.
Singh pointed out that the total revenue of over Rs 4,088 crore earned from selling scrap could cover the budget of a major space mission or multiple Chandrayaan missions. The total area freed up is substantial enough to accommodate a large mall or other significant structures for economic activity.
This year's special Swachhata campaign 5.0, Singh said, also took place at a time when extensive "Waste to Wealth" activity has been undertaken by the Ministry of Science & Technology.
This, for example, includes recycling of hospital waste through a technology developed by CSIR-NIIST Thiruvanathapuram and deployed at AIIMS New Delhi, recycling of cooked oil undertaken by CSIR-IIP Dehradun and use of steel sludge for road construction through technology developed by CSIR-CRRI New Delhi, he added.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
