It’s been more than two years since the Government of India flagged off its Clean India mission with an aim to eradicate open defecation completely. From building toilets to educating people about the benefits of using one and staying clean, the importance of waste management, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has become a mass movement. Till now more than 3 crore toilets have been built and the sanitation coverage has increased to 60.53 per cent from mere 38 per cent in 2012.
As part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, every year cities and towns across India are awarded with the title of ‘Swachh Cities/Towns’ on the basis of their cleanliness and sanitation as a part of Swachh Survekshan Survey. This year the details of the Survey will be announced on May 4, 2017 by the Ministry of Urban Development. Here are some of the key findings:
Also Read: Surveying Cleanliness: 10 Things To Know About Swachh Survekshan
1. Positive And Happy Results: Results of the ‘Swachh Survekshan 2017’ have confirmed that the efforts being made under Swachh Bharat Mission have made a positive impact on cleanliness situation in urban areas.
The official statement released by the Ministry of Urban Development says that the field inspection done on 17,500 locations confirm that the buzz around Swacch Bharat is going strong and positive thereby making an effective difference on ground.
Delighted by encouraging results of #SwachhSurvekshan2017, showing major improvement in cleanliness of cities in last 1 yr. #SwachhBharat 1/
— M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) May 2, 2017
2. 37 Lakh Citizens Gave Feedback For Swachh Survekshan 2017: This year the survey gave more importance to citizen feedback as well, approximately 30% weightage was given to the direct citizen feedback. What’s inspiring is that over 37 lakh citizens responded to a set of six questions giving their perception of sanitation situation in cities and towns.
Minister of Urban Development, M Venkaiah Naidu motivated by the response of people tweeted saying: “Good to know that around 37 lakh citizens gave feedback in #SwachhSurvekshan2017 of which over 80% said cleanliness improved in last 2 years.
Good to know that around 37 lakh citizens gave feedback in #SwachhSurvekshan2017 of which over 80% said cleanliness improved in last year 2/
— M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) May 2, 2017
3. Key Findings From Citizen Survey: The Survey brought out the need for making more Community and Public Toilets and toilets that are friendly enough for people with special needs.
The Number Game
- Around 83% of respondents reported their areas are much cleaner than last year
- 82% reported improvement in sanitation infrastructure and services like increased availability of litter bins and door-to-door collection of solid waste
82% reported improvement in sanitation infrastructure & services like door to door collection of waste#SwachhSurvekshan2017 @QualityCouncil
— Swachh Bharat Urban (@SwachhBharatGov) May 2, 2017
- 80% respondents proclaimed much better access to community and public toilets
- 75% residential areas in 404 cities and towns found substantially clean
- Railway Station surroundings entirely clean in 185 cities
- 75% of Community and Public Toilets found ventilated, well-lit and had water supply
- Door-to-Door collection of waste being done in 80% of wards in 297 cities and towns
- Sweeping being done twice in 75% of notified commercial areas in 226 cities and towns
- Global Positioning System (GPS) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) based tracking of vehicles transporting solid waste is being done in 166 cities and towns
- Sanitation staff vacancy reduced to less than 10% in 227 cities and towns
- Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based monitoring of attendance is being done in 158 cities
The Survey was commissioned by the Ministry of Urban Development during January – February this year, approximately 421 assessors of Quality Council of India have physically inspected 17,500 locations in 434 cities and towns. 2,680 residential locations, 2,680 commercial locations and 2,582 commercial and public toilets were inspected in these cities and towns for on the spot third party assessment of ground level assessment of sanitation.
