Chandigarh: The call from the ministry of home affairs came at 8.11am. Former Punjab DIG Inderjit Singh Sidhu learnt that he was being awarded the Padma Shri. He did not tell anyone about it and stepped out with a broom to what he does every day — clean the streets.He lives with his daughter in Mohali these days, and this is his karmabhoomi for now. When he lived in Chandigarh, he used to clean public spaces in City Beautiful. Videos of him sweeping Chandigarh streets had gone viral, putting him in the limelight that he shuns.Even after learning about the Padma Shri, there was no interruption to the day. He returned home briefly for lunch and went out again. The family learnt about the honour much later.“I came to know around 4pm through a friend and then saw it on television,” said his son-in-law, Pushpinder Singh, 67, a retired officer of the Punjab Rural Development Department. “He never mentioned the call. There was no excitement or reaction. He just went about his work.”Turning 88 in May, Sidhu has spent years personally cleaning roads, footpaths and public spaces, first in Chandigarh’s Sector 49 and, for the past many months, in Mohali. A 1964-batch IPS officer, he retired from the Punjab Police in 1996 after more than three decades in service, holding several field and supervisory postings before retiring as DIG.When this correspondent met Sidhu at his ground-floor flat in Sector 49 in July 2025, he was living alone. His wife had passed away a few years earlier. His daughter was settled in Mohali and his son in US. Sitting at home, Sidhu spoke quietly about why he cleaned streets himself.“My father was in the Army,” he said then. “From day one, as a child, we were taught to keep things clean — shoes, clothes, everything. That habit stayed with me during service and after retirement.”After settling in Chandigarh, Sidhu grew increasingly disturbed by garbage accumulation and neglected public spaces near his home. He initially raised these concerns with civic authorities. When improvements remained inconsistent, he decided to act himself.“I didn’t plan anything,” he said. “I saw dirt around me and felt uncomfortable ignoring it. So I started cleaning.”What began near his home gradually expanded. For several years, Sidhu cleaned roads, footpaths and public spaces around Sector 49, removing litter, collecting plastic waste and clearing silt from drains. He returned repeatedly to the same stretches to ensure they stayed clean, working alone and without formal coordination with municipal staff or resident groups.Much of the work, he said, was done when few people were around. “Many times, late at night, when nobody is there, I pick up the garbage cart used by sanitation workers and take it out to collect waste,” he said. He explained that people around him, including family members, were concerned about his age and safety. “They would tell me not to do it. So I started going out when it was quiet.”After videos of Sidhu cleaning public spaces circulated widely on social media, the attention worried the family. “Once people started recognising him everywhere, we were concerned about his wellbeing,” Pushpinder said. “That is when we brought him to stay with us in Mohali in July.”On the day his name entered the Padma list, there were no celebrations at home.Just another day of duty.
