The government’s annual cleanliness drive, Special Campaign 6, entered its implementation phase on October 2 and will run until October 31.

The campaign targets pending files, office clutter and old records across ministries and departments. It is the sixth edition of the yearly exercise.

The Department of Telecommunications alone listed 12,513 physical files for review, showing the scale of the backlog in government offices.

Ministries have been asked to clear pending references, weed out old files and free up office space during the month-long drive.

The campaign also covers cleanliness of office premises and disposal of scrap. Progress is tracked on a central portal.

Past editions have cleared lakhs of files and freed large amounts of office space. This year’s drive is expected to continue that record into the festive month.

Departments must report their progress on a central dashboard. The data lets the government compare ministries and push laggards.

Citizens benefit when files move faster. Pending references often hold up everything from pension cases to project approvals.