On March 1, 2021, Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched the field assessment for the 6th Edition of the Annual Cleanliness Survey ‘Swachh Survekshan 2021 (SS2021)’ (urban) in New Delhi, which is said to be World’s largest cleanliness survey.
- The Survey (face-to-face citizen’s feedback) will be conducted between January 4-31 every year but the same is set to be conducted between March 1-28, 2021 due to pandemics.
- In SS2021, apart from ranking cities & states, districts are also set to be ranked (based on the performance of their cities).
- MoHUA conducts the survey while the Quality Council of India (QCI) is the Implementing Agency.
Feedback through Digital Platforms
- SS2021 has already got 3 Crore citizen feedback through a variety of digital platforms like Vote for Your City App, Swachhata App & Swachh Survekshan Portal and through the Integrated Management Information System (MIS) portal.
Objective of Swachh Survekshan
- To create a healthy competition amongst towns & cities by improving service delivery to citizens & moving towards creating cleaner cities.
- To Encourage Large Scale participation, ensure sustainability of initiatives taken towards garbage free & open defecation free cities.
Background
- Swachh Survekshan is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene & sanitation in cities & towns across India. It is conducted in both Rural & Urban Areas.
- It was launched in 2016 by MoHUA as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to make India clean & free of open defecation by October 2, 2019.
- MoHUA conducts the surveys in Urban Areas (Swachh Survekshan-Urban), while the Ministry of Jal Shakti conducts surveys in Rural areas (Swachh Survekshan-Gramin).
Indicators
SS2021 will be categorised on the basis of six select Indicators. They are
- Segregation of Waste into Wet, Dry and Hazard Categories
- Processing capacity against wet waste generated
- Processing and recycling of wet & dry waste
- Construction and Demolition waste processing
- Percentage of waste going to landfills
- Sanitation status of cities
Parameters like waste processing capacities, unprocessed/processed waste going to landfill, remediation of dumpsites, wastewater treatment & reuse along with faecal sludge management have been given focus.
Prerak Dauur Samman
A New Performance category called ‘Prerak Dauur Samman’ has been announced as part of Swachh Survekshan 2021, where cities will be rewarded for their performance based on indicators from SS-2021 ‘Service Level Progress’.
- They have a total of 5 additional subcategories called – Divya (Platinum), Anupam (Gold), Ujjwal (Silver), Udit (Bronze) & Aarohi (Aspiring).
Progress of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U)
Since the launch of SBM-U in 2014, around 4360 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) have been declared ODF (Open Defecation Free), 2158 cities certified ODF+ & 551 cities certified ODF++.
- Around 66 Lakh Individual toilets & around 6 Lakh community/public toilets have been constructed/under construction.
- Regarding Solid Waste Management – A total of 6 cities have been certified as 5 Star, 86 as 3 star & 65 star under Star Rating Protocol for Garbage Free Cities.
2nd Phase of SBM-U
The 2nd Phase of SBM-U for a period of 5 years (2021-26) has been announced in the Union Budget of 2021.
- It will focus on sustainable sanitation (faecal sludge & wastewater management), solid waste management and eliminating the use of single-use plastic (SUP).
- It will also focus on mitigating air pollution through management of construction & demolition waste & reducing soil pollution through remediation of legacy dumpsites.
Recent Related News:
i.On August 20, 2020, Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (MoS)-Independent Charge (I/C) MoHUA announced the 5th edition of the annual cleanliness urban survey of India i.e. “Swachh Survekshan 2020 (SS2020)”, Madhya Pradesh’s Indore Creates record as India’s cleanest city for the 4th consecutive time.
ii.On July 03, 2020, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri launched the toolkit for the 6th edition of the annual cleanliness survey of urban India ‘Swachh Survekshan (SS) 2021’
About Quality Council of India (QCI):
Chairperson – Mr Adil Zainulbhai
Location – New Delhi
