Reporter’s diary: Any Swachh questions? Call Corpn’s Animator

However, how many of us know that the city Corporation too is not far behind when it comes to ornate designations? Recently, this reporter was left bewildered after a local body official, who was contacted for reaction on a story, said that her designation was ‘Animator’. Baffled, what an ‘Animator’ could be doing in a Corporation office, this reporter tried to double-check with the staffer, only to be told: “Yes, I am the Animator in this office.” Cambridge & Oxford English dictionaries define ‘animator’ as ‘someone who makes animated films, drawings, models, etc’. Since it was not an Animator’s reaction that this reporter was looking for, and wondering whether the lower-level staffer might have got her English wrong, this scribe approached a senior official, whereupon it was confirmed that this reporter was wrong and that there were ‘Animators’ with the city Corporation. And what do they do? Spread awareness among residents about solid waste management. The civic body prefers to call those officers appointed to spread awareness among residents about environment-friendly waste-disposal as ‘Animators’, though their job profile has nothing to do with ‘animation’. “Animators are contract employees appointed under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission). They spread awareness about waste-management among residents, conservancy workers, owners and staff of business establishments and school and college students. They also talk to the residents about segregating decomposable, non-decomposable and sanitary waste and also about composting,” an official explained, to throw further ‘clarity’ on the designation.