If you have been complimenting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for keeping the highways and bridges you drive on spick and span, well, the merit has to be split. The civic body has enlisted the help of panhandlers for the cleanliness mission, paying them Rs 20 to sweep a single bridge. Civic workers started handing out the job to local beggars and started roping them in as volunteers for the Prime Minister's flagship Swachh Bharat Mission. DNA found a 30-year-old volunteer while he was cleaning a highway bridge in Kandivali on Saturday. The volunteer, Umesh Raja Lalji, resides in a shantytown off 90 Feet Road in Kandivali East. "I have been working for Swachh Bharat Mission and I am a volunteer for PM Modi, who started the cleanliness campaign to spruce up the streets and infrastructure of our cities and villages," Lalji said. Lalji said that he used to beg at traffic signals and make Rs 10-15 a day, hardly getting one square meal. "But after joining the Swachh Bharat Mission, I get about Rs 40 a day, because I clean two bridges on the highway at Malad and Kandivali. Now I am getting two meals a day. I don't have to beg now as I am a part of this mission." Dutiful Derelict Civic officials have persuaded panhandlers to clean highways and bridges The former cadgers get Rs 20 to clean one bridge Many, like Umesh Lalji, are happy that they don’t have to beg any more and are part of a national mission Assistant municipal commissioner Kiran Dhighavkar, the nodal officer of Swachh Bharat Mission in Mumbai area, told DNA: "I am happy Umesh Lalji has volunteered for Swachh Bharat." "We will support him in every way. I don't know who exactly is paying him for cleaning bridges but he is doing good work. Every citizen should join the Mission as a volunteer and help keep the city clean," Dhighavkar said. Lalji seems like a hardworking man. He swept the entire bridge efficiently, collecting wrappers, paper, plastic bottles and bags. "I also collect garbage from the highways after cleaning the bridges. Most of the things – plastic bottles, papers and so on – I sell them for recycling and get money in return," Lalji said. Asked what drove him to contribute to the Mission other than the pay, he said, "I joined this mission in July 2018 month after seeing a poster of Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleaning the roads. I like to do this work and will continue to do it." Dhighavkar said, "Every time people blame the BMC, they should remember that it is the people who actually litter the roads. The BMC picks up the garbage from the roads. People should change their mindset and join in this Swatch Bharat Mission."

Stay updated with all the Mumbai Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.