Visitors to the Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) office in Sakchi on Tuesday could not have missed a painting adorning its wall.

The eye-catching painting carried a message that the urban local body had been seeking to propagate among the residents of the steel city: "Keep the city clean."

Several such theme-based paintings on issues like health, education, skill development, on Indian goddesses, traditional art will grace the walls of government offices soon. However, the trademark logo of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan - Mahatma Gandhi's spectacles - will prominently feature in all the paintings, which will either be in the Sohrai style, a tribal art, or in modern style.

"We have started the painting on Monday on the wall near our gate in Sakchi. The same will be replicated on the walls of important government establishments like the district collectorate, office of senior superintendent of police, Dhalbhum SDO, old court and Jamshedpur civil court premises," said JNAC special officer Deepak Sahay.

The initiative, started by the urban body, is part of the information, education and behaviour change communication (IEBC) component of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

"We will hire artists through quotations and they will be asked to use all-weather and natural colours for the paintings so that they are durable. We hope that people get encouraged to adopt practices of cleanliness," the JNAC officer said.

The objective is not only to spread the cleanliness message but also to keep graffiti gangs at bay.

"We want walls of government establishments to look clean. The walls should be free of graffiti and political posters. If any organisation is found painting graffiti and pasting posters, it will face prosecution under Bihar Prevention of Defacement of Property Act," said Sahay.

Incidentally, the state urban development department has adopted the Bihar Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 1985 since the creation of a separate state (2000). However, the act is enforced mostly during elections when the code of conduct is made mandatory. According to the provisions of the Act, offenders will be liable for a fine up to Rs 50,000 and imprisonment of up to six months.

Notably, Jusco, the civic utilities wing of Tata Steel, has already turned the company walls into a giant canvas for theme-based, all-weather murals to keep graffiti gangs at bay.