On May 19, 2020 Hardeep Singh(S) Puri, Minister of State (Independent/Charge) of Ministry Of Housing and Urban Affairs(MOHUA) announced the results of the Star Rating of Garbage Free Cities, for the assessment year 2019-2020, where 6 Cities(Ambikapur, Rajkot, Surat, Mysuru, Indore and Navi Mumbai) were rated 5 Star, 65 Cities rated 3 Star and 70 Cities rated 1 Star out of 141 cities & also launched the revised protocol for the Star Rating of Garbage Free Cities.
About protocol
i.The protocol has been devised with components including cleanliness of drains & water bodies, plastic waste management, managing construction & demolition waste, among others, which are critical drivers for achieving garbage free cities
ii.The core of the protocol is on Solid Waste Management(SWM) & also ensures certain minimum standards of sanitation through a set of prerequisites defined in the framework.
iii.It will consider ward-wise geo-mapping, monitoring of SWM value chain through ICT interventions like Swachh Nagar App and zone-wise rating in cities with population of more than 50 lakh.
Background
i.Swachh Survekshan(SS) was introduced 5 years ago to ensure a high degree of cleanliness and sanitation in urban areas. As it is a ranking system, many cities despite doing exceptionally well, were not being recognized appropriately.
ii.So the ministry introduced the Star Rating Protocol for Garbage Free Cities January 2018 ,a framework similar to the examination systems where each ward in every city must achieve a certain standard across 24 different components of SWM and is graded based on overall marks received.
Key Point
Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban(SBM-U) was launched in 2014 & has made significant progress in the area of both sanitation and solid waste management.
Few Initiatives by MOHUA in the view of COVID-19
Revised its hugely popular citizen grievance redressal platform, Swacchata App. Issued an advisory for the provision of PPEs, health-check-ups and payment of regular wages to sanitation workers. A Special Micro-Credit facility for the Street Vendors to facilitate easy access was launched to support nearly 50 lakh vendors
For Further Reference: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1625076
About MOHUA:
It formulates policies, supports programmes, monitors programmes and coordinates the activities of various Central Ministries, State Governments and other nodal authorities. The Information on urban scenario, organizations, policies, Lists of attached offices, Statutory & Autonomous Bodies, Public Sector Undertakings and Joint Ventures are also available in the website.
