Special Campaign 6.0: Clearing E-Waste From Government Offices the Right Way

Special Campaign 6.0 is running in central government offices from 2 to 31 October 2026, coordinated by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG). E-waste disposal is one of its named focus areas this year, alongside cleanliness, records and pending cases.

This post is for the officer who has been handed the e-waste part of it: what the campaign asks for, which rule applies, and how to clear old computers without leaving a data problem or a paperwork gap behind.

What the campaign is

The preparatory phase ran from 16 to 30 September 2026, when ministries identified sites, files and scrap for disposal. The implementation phase started on 2 October and runs to 31 October. Daily progress goes onto DARPG’s Special Campaign portal (SCDPM). At the launch on 2 October, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said the campaign had started in over 100 institutions across the country, with the scientific disposal of e-waste among its priorities.

The rule that applies

A government office is treated like any other entity under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022. If it has used at least 1,000 units of listed equipment in a financial year, it is a bulk consumer (rule 3(b)), and rule 8 says its e-waste can go only to a registered producer, refurbisher or recycler.

That matters most when e-waste is sold through an auction. The buyer still needs to be a registered recycler or refurbisher, and the office should keep proof that it was.

The part campaigns miss: data

Old desktops in a government office hold files, email, scanned documents and saved passwords. A campaign that measures space freed and scrap sold can push those machines out of the door before anyone has dealt with the drives.

• Wipe drives that will be reused or resold with certified software, and keep the erasure report for each drive.
• Shred or degauss drives that will not wipe, or that your security policy says must be destroyed.
• Do it on the premises, witnessed by your own staff, so no drive leaves with data on it.

The documents to keep

1. The approval for the disposal and the list of items, from your campaign records.
2. The receiver’s registration and state pollution control board consent.
3. The e-waste manifest, signed at your premises before the vehicle leaves.
4. Erasure reports for wiped drives and a Certificate of Destruction for destroyed ones.
5. The recycling certificate from the authorised facility.

Where we fit

PrivAce Technologies is the Enterprise ITAD Division of Greenlife Ewaste Recycling Pvt. Ltd., which is registered on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) and runs an MPCB-authorised recycling plant at Waluj MIDC. Pickup is free anywhere in India, drives are destroyed at your office by default, and the documents above come back for your campaign file.