Varanasi: Urban development and energy minister AK Sharma on Sunday launched a 76-day public outreach and cleanliness campaign in the City South assembly constituency, under which local MLA Neelkanth Tiwari and BJP workers will visit every ward to hear public grievances, oversee sanitation works, promote plantation drives and spread awareness about the achievements of the Modi and Yogi govts. The campaign will continue till Oct 2.Launching the campaign from Suryakund Ward, Sharma, accompanied by former minister and City South MLA Neelkanth Tiwari and former Amraiwadi (Gujarat) MLA Jagdish Patel, inspected sanitation arrangements and interacted with local residents. The campaign will involve a day-long stay in one ward each day, cleanliness drives, grievance redressal, plantation activities and door-to-door public outreach.During the visit, residents highlighted several civic issues, including a maze of overhead electricity cables, heaps of debris, damaged sewer chambers, clogged drains, potholes in lanes and broken paving stones. Sharma and Tiwari directed officials of the Varanasi Municipal Corporation, Jal Kal Department and the electricity department to ensure their prompt resolution. A plantation drive was also carried out on the premises of Sanatan Dharm Inter College.Addressing the gathering, Sharma described the initiative as a model for public representatives, saying that regular morning visits to localities would strengthen direct engagement with citizens and help identify and resolve civic issues on the spot. He said Mahatma Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had transformed cleanliness into a mass movement.Referring to the Prime Minister’s initiatives, Sharma said Modi had personally swept the lanes of Kashi to promote cleanliness. He added that under the Prime Minister’s leadership, the city had witnessed unprecedented development through projects such as Kashi Vishwanath Dham, Namo Ghat, the Ring Road, the Ropeway, the International Cricket Stadium and Banas Dairy. He said the under-construction elevated corridor would become a model for the country.Speaking on the occasion, Tiwari said all public grievances, big or small, would be addressed on priority during the campaign. He added that party workers would conduct door-to-door outreach, interact with beneficiaries of government welfare schemes and plant five saplings in each ward.
