Swachh Bharat mission head Vijaylakshmi Joshi quits even before project completes a year

NEW DELHI: Gujarat cadre IAS officer Vijaylakshmi Joshi, who spearheaded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat mission as secretary of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, has quit even before the ambitious project completes a year. The 1980-batch officer has three more years left in service, but insisted on voluntary retirement for personal reasons. Minister Birender Singh has forwarded her resignation to the Cabinet Secretariat. When contacted, a ministry spokesperson told ET: “Mrs Joshi has no comment to offer on the issue.” Despite ET’s repeated attempts, she could not be reached for a comment.

Joshi was secretary in the panchayati raj ministry when she was shifted to the sanitation ministry weeks ahead of the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission. Despite being a secretary in the panchayati raj ministry, she was also assigned as OSD in the drinking water ministry, last September, to assist the outgoing secretary for the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2. Joshi’s central deputation began in 2011 when she joined the commerce ministry as joint secretary. She is likely to serve till October-end. Her husband, GP Joshi, a former IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, also took VRS in 2008.

The Swachh Bharat Mission results have not been as expected. The cleanliness drive initiated by Modi is yet to take off, despite initial euphoria. Former home secretary LC Goyal, too, had sought voluntary retirement this week on personal grounds, but he was appointed CMD of India Trade Promotion Organisation. Goyal was replaced by Rajiv Mehrishi, a Rajasthan cadre IAS officer who was to retire on August 31 from the finance ministry and has earned a two-year extension after he was appointed home secretary.