lieutenant-Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi gave the people of the Union Territory on Sunday a thorough dressing down on cleanliness and hygiene. The former IPS officer, who was on her routine weekend outing reminded the people of Puducherry that the Government alone would not be able to maintain cleanliness and hygiene. “It is the responsibility of the general public to actively help the Government maintain cleanliness. The people are equally responsible for the cleanliness drive initiated by the Government. Unless you cooperate with the Government, this will not find results,” said Bedi while addressing the crowd.
She expressed her unhappiness with the general cleanliness in the Union Territory. “I would like to see the entire Puducherry neat, clean and healthy. Are you going to help me in realising that dreamIJ” asked the Governor. She said she was not impressed by the standard of hygiene and cleanliness. “I have come here with a mission. If you are not going to help me, if you are not interested in seeing a neat and clean Puducherry, I’ll pack up and leave,” said Bedi. The crowd unanimously shouted “No” to the Governor who has become popular all over the Union Territory due to her pro active style of functioning.
In the run up to the release of Tamil movie Kabali starring Rajnikant, the Puducherry administration launched an innovative scheme to promote Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan a success in the Union Territory. One of the districts offered free Kabali tickets to those who come forward to accept the government scheme for constructing toilets in their houses. This went well with the population as hundreds of people made use of the opportunity to construct toilets and watch the Rajnikant movie.
Bedi, who love interacting with the people on development activities later tweeted that she has put them on notice. “Put people &public servants on notice today. Participate in cleanliness of Puducherry. Also join in every weekend, or else! Time will tell,” Bedi tweeted.
R Sreedharan, private secretary to the l-G, said Dr Bedi has made it a point to visit various places in the UT to monitor the progress of the cleanliness drive. “Today was no exception. She wants to ensure that the general public too join her in her mission. Her words were not at all harsh. It was meant to motivate the people and whenthe crowd shouted “no” to her question whether she should pack up and leave the place, she was happy,” said Sreedharan.