Union MoS Jitendra Singh speaks during the launch of the Special Campaign 6 Monitoring portal to track the implementation of the campaign aimed at institutionalising Swachhata and reducing pendency across government offices, in New Delhi. (Photo: ANI)

NEW DELHI: Launching the dedicated web-portal for the sixth edition of govt’s ‘special campaign’ to declutter govt offices, minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said the focus will henceforth shift to responsible disposal of non-functional electronic items lying in govt offices, with annual earnings from e-waste recycling expected to touch Rs 10,000 crore in a few years.According to secretary, ministry of mines, Keshav Chandra, e-waste has become the most valuable commodity as an input for the industry. E waste, when crushed together, generates ‘black mass’, which contains 30% of critical mineral requirements. This is the reason why most advanced economies of the world have the export of black mass. “Instead of going outside seeking critical minerals, we can obtain them from e-waste recycling,” Chandra said, adding that ‘Special Campaign 6’ will serve the dual purpose of removing garbage from govt offices and obtaining value from it.The ‘special campaign’ initiative to free up space and institutionalise cleanliness across govt offices was launched in 2021 and runs each year between the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s on Oct 2 to that of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on Oct 31. Over the years, the swachata initiative and special campaign have helped free up over 1,000 lakh square feet of office space, led to weeding out or closure of around 2 crore files and generated a revenue of Rs 5,103 crore from scrap disposal.“These achievements reflect the expansion of swachhata campaign beyond cleanliness to efficient utilisation of govt resources, reduction of pendency, better use of public spaces and conversion of waste into wealth,” Singh said while addressing mediapersons at the launch of Special Campaign 6.

Secretary for the department of administrative reforms and public grievances (DARPG) Nivedita Shukla Verma said the govt will ensure that e-waste collected during the special campaign is handed over only to registered recyclers and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.As many as 58 big recyclers have already registered to process the e-waste, according to Chandra.The govt had last year run a limited campaign for e-waste collection across 58 locations, placing bins in govt offices to collect non-functional and unused computers, keyboards, printers, laptops etc. The response encouraged the govt to make e-waste collection and recycling a critical component of Special Campaign 6.