On 27th June 2023, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched the Field Assessment for the 8th edition Swachh Survekshan (SS) 2023 – Mera Shehar, Meri Pehchan. SS 2023 survey is expected to engage with approximately 10 crore citizens and making it the world’s largest annual urban cleanliness survey.
- Under SS 2023, around 3,000 assessors will take the field for assessment from 1 July 2023 and will evaluate over 4500 cities across 46 indicators. It is expected to be completed within a month.
- SS 2023 was rolled out on 24th May 2022 with telephonic feedback from citizens on various parameters of city cleanliness.
Objective:
i. The focus of SS 2023 is on Waste-to-Wealth initiative and is curated towards processing and scientific management of waste
ii. The survey aims to promote sustainable sanitation and waste management through competition and engagement with citizens.
Swachh Survekshan:
i. It was first launched in 2016 under the aegis of MoHUA as an assessment tool to analyse and compare the status of sanitation of Indian cities under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) (Urban).
ii. As a part of the SBM (Urban), the assessment will be based on cleanliness of public spaces and toilets; collection of feedback from residents; and the performance of municipalities in waste collection, segregation and processing.
iii. The Survey will be held to prepare the annual ranking of the cleanest cities in India.
- For 6 consecutive years (since 2016), Indore city, Madhya Pradesh has been ranked as the cleanest city in India.
Swachh Survekshan 2023 Survey:
i. The survey was conducted over 4 quarters, the first 3 quarters of assessment have already been completed successfully and a new 3rd quarter for SS 2023 was introduced in 2023.
ii. The 4th and the final quarter is now being launched from 1 July, 2023.
iii. The survey includes new indicators such as waste processing, segregation at source, and cleanliness of public areas.
iv. Efforts are being taken to make the survey easier and useful for smaller and medium sized cities so that SwachhSurvekshan continues to be a management tool for improvement in sanitation.
SS 2023 Indicators:
i. It focuses on parameters concerning: Segregated door-to-door waste collection; zero waste events; Divyang-friendly toilets; improved plastic waste management and cleaning backlanes, wherein the marks have been increased in 2023.
ii. This has also prioritisedSafaiMitra Suraksha Challenge (SSC) focusing on the efforts towards the transformation of manhole to machine hole.2x marks have been increased under this component.
Note: SSC, launched on 19th November 2020 under the MoHUA with a core challenge of eradicating hazardous cleaning and promoting mechanised cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.
iii. The new indicator of Waste to Wonder Parks has been introduced with 2% weightage. Swachh TULIP (The Urban Learning Internship Program), primarily for more than 1 lakh population cities, enters SS 2023 as a new indicator.
iv. Red Spots (spitting in commercial/ residential areas) has also been added as a new indicator under cleaning of public areas.
v. Special emphasis is being placed on Promotion of RRR (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, functionality of RRR Centres. 40% weightage has been indicated for detailed technical assessment of all waste treatment facilities in cities in 2023.
Feedback:
The feedback from the citizens are collected through Vote For My City App, Vote For My City Portal, MyGov App, Swachhata App and QR (Quick Response) Codes.
Survey Process:
i. MoHUA has taken qualitative measures to ensure seamless functioning of the survey. A national team has been specifically designated as a single point of contact for States/cities for matters pertaining to toolkits and anything regarding assessments etc.
ii. MoHUA will also be sending a core team to various cities to oversee the assessment process.
About Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA):
Union Minister- Hardeep Singh Puri (Rajya Sabha Uttar Pradesh)
Minister of State (MoS)- Kaushal Kishore (Constituency- Mohanlalganj, Uttar Pradesh)
