Cooperate or I will quit, Kiran Bedi tells Puducherry officers and residents

Bedi left the venue she was speaking at in a huff after venting her displeasure without distributing prizes to the students

Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi, irked by 'lack of cooperation' for her 'Clean Puducherry Mission', on Sunday said she would quit her post and leave the Union territory if there is no improvement in the situation.

"I am not here for a job but on a mission. If the mission is not accomplished I will go back. I will quit if you don't help me make Puducherry clean," she said.

Bedi, who had been making week-end visits as part of the Swachh Puducherry Mission, gave vent to her frustration at a function where she addressed participants of a marathon on 'Road Safety' organised by JIPMER student council.

"I have completed so far 20 such visits. Only a few officers accompanied me during my visits to various places and some senior officers and elected representatives refused to cooperate," she said.

"It is not the job of the Lt Governor alone to clean the streets as it is the job of the people, people's representatives and officials at large," she said.

The former Indian Police Service officer, who took over as the Lt Governor of Puducherry in May this year, said this "could not go on for ever" and she would wait for improvement till the end of next month.

Regretting that people were indiscriminately throwing the carcasses of dogs and pigs into drains causing choking of sewage water, she said if the garbage is not removed there will be flooding of streets during rains.

Bedi said that before coming to the function she visited a dumping yard near here and found the garbage had not been segregated at source as degradable and non-degradable.

She said the youth is very powerful and should engage in social activities.

She left the venue in a huff after venting her displeasure without distributing prizes to the students.