Chandigarh: At an age when most people slow down, 88-year-old retired IPS officer Inderjit Singh Sidhu steps out every morning in Chandigarh’s Sector 49 with a broom, a dustpan and a quiet resolve to keep his city clean. On the 77th Republic Day, the former Deputy Inspector General of Punjab Police was conferred the Padma Shri for his extraordinary commitment to cleanliness and civic responsibility, a mission he has pursued single-handedly for years.
A 1964-batch IPS officer who retired in 1996, Sidhu spent over three decades in uniform, handling key law and order assignments in Punjab and serving as DIG in Chandigarh. Long after retirement, he found himself disturbed by the sight of garbage piling up near his residence in the IAS-IPS Officers’ Cooperative Society. Instead of complaining or writing to authorities, he picked up a broom and began cleaning the streets himself.
What started as a solitary act soon became his daily routine. Before sunrise, Sidhu walks through lanes and pavements, collecting litter and loading it onto a cart or abandoned rickshaw. At first, neighbours watched in disbelief; some even called him eccentric. But his quiet persistence began to draw admiration, and slowly, a few residents joined in.
Sidhu says his only goal is to help Chandigarh live up to its reputation as the “City Beautiful” and to see it rank at the top of the Swachh Bharat cleanliness survey. “If streets in foreign countries can be spotless, why can’t ours?” he has often asked. For him, there is no indignity in sweeping roads. “Cleanliness is next to godliness,” he says simply.
Videos of the octogenarian pushing a cart full of waste went viral last year, bringing him national attention. Industrialist Anand Mahindra and several public figures praised his spirit, calling him a reminder that civic duty does not end with retirement.
Originally from Bugra village in Punjab’s Sangrur district, Sidhu lives alone in Chandigarh after his wife Davinder Pal Kaur passed away in 2023. His children are settled abroad and in Mohali.
Despite the recognition, he remains modest and unmoved by the limelight. When the official call informing him of the Padma Shri came, Sidhu reportedly acknowledged it quietly, and then stepped out with his broom as usual.
For him, the honour has changed nothing. Service, he believes, never retires.
BI Bureau
