India, Jan. 25 -- Ex-IPS officer Inderjit Singh Sidhu continues with public service years after retirement, and in a way that many may judge as an odd choice. He has picked up the broom to keep the streets of Chandigarh, protecting its tag of 'City Beautiful'.

At 88 years of age, he has been chosen as one of the 45 Padma Shri awardees in the "unsung heroes" category ahead of the 2026 Republic Day.

Sidhu retired as a deputy inspector general (DIG) in the Punjab Police in 1996. Three decades later, his daily self-assigned duties include cleaning up his neighbourhood in Chandigarh's Sector 49.

He gets out every morning at 6 to collect litter from the streets.

Living in the IAS-IPS Officers' Cooperative Society, he says he repeatedly comp...