Swachh Survekshan Awards, 2023

• Context (IE): The President conferred the Swachh Survekshan Awards, 2023 in New Delhi.
• Indore and Surat were jointly awarded the title of the cleanest city.
• Indore achieved the top rank for the seventh consecutive time.

Swachh Survekshan Awards

• It is the world’s largest urban sanitation and cleanliness survey conducted annually.
• It was launched in 2016 as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (a nationwide cleanliness campaign).
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) with Quality Council of India (QCI) as its implementation partner.
• Objective: Encourage citizen participation & create awareness amongst all sections of society about the importance of working together towards making towns and cities better places to reside in.
• Theme of 2023: Waste to Wealth”; for 2024, the theme is: “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”.
• Criteria for rankings:
  1. Door-to-door collection of waste,
  2. Segregation at source,
  3. Cleanliness of public areas,
  4. Clean water bodies,
  5. Citizens’ feedback regarding the cleanliness of their cities.

Swachh Survekshan Awards, 2023

What other Cities can learn from Indore?

Focus on sustainable sanitation systems

• Nagar Nigam took over the waste collection process, terminating the private contracts.
• NGOs created awareness about garbage disposal directly to municipality vehicles.

Handling Legacy Waste

• Clearing and treating nearly 13 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste in about six months.

Infrastructure Development

• Nagar Nigam started converting wet waste into compost and built a treatment plant for dry waste.

Addressing Open Defecation

• NGOs constructed single-household or community toilets in areas in need of urinals ad toilets.
• They also distributed 1,000 accessible dustbins to vehicle owners to discourage littering.

Community Engagement and Awareness

• Administering the cleanliness oath to over four lakh people.
• Issuance of spot fines against people spitting, urinating in public, or littering.
• Public shaming through the publication of offenders’ names in newspapers & broadcasting over radio.