Even ‘Cleanliness’ cannot prevent a ‘Swatch Bharat campaign’ as visiting Rajasthani minister sweeps a spic and span street in Thirupattur in Vellore after her minions dirty it first.

Chennai: This here is a Swatch Bharat campaign with a difference — cleaning a sparkling clean street cleaner. Yes, visiting Rajasthani cabinet minister Kiran Maheswari and her penchant to participate in Prime Minister’s pet project – Swatch Bharat abhiyam — on her visit to Vellore the other day managed to do only that, sweeping a clean street.

The venue was Thirupathur town of Vellore district. The minister decreed that she wanted to clean up the street as part of the campaign that the prime minister is focused on. So, her minions and the few TN government officials present in the area got cracking.

They found brooms and hygienic gloves for the minister and her officials and went in search for a spot to clean up.

It is here that the team ran into a problem – the area, already spic and span, presented no dirt and garbage to sweep.

So what does the ministry do? Withdraw? Oh no perish the thought, if the minister says she has to clean up, she has to clean up. Period.

Which is why, the hangers on hit upon a surefire success formula and roped in the daily sweeper who cleans up the area. Even as the minister and the team was getting ready, posing for pictures, this cleaning lady strew around pieces of paper and some dirt around, as private television channel cameras captured her in her act.

Finally with something indeed on the street to clean up, Kiran Maheswari, got into the act even as the persons accompanying her collected the dirt she gathered with the broom into their hands and gave it to the cleaning lady.

Another person cleaning the roads then got into the act of sullying the road for the Swatch Bharat Abhiyam for the mantriji to sweep afresh.

The moral of the story is, well there is none in fact, – other than the fact that ‘if the boss wants the moon, he or she gets the moon.’

And what is wrong in pandering to the whims and fancies of the VIP, if it pleases the visiting dignitary and the job gets done.

And they all lived happily ever after. The minister posed for pictures and went away happily and all the residents of Thirupathur went about their life as they always do.

Incidentally, Vellore had scored high in previous years ranking in the list of clean citiies but fell to 108th position this year. But this is true of most cities in Tamil Nadu. Barring Tiruchirappalli, no other city in the state could break into the list of top ten cities on the cleanliness index for the year.