New Delhi: On January 20, Swachh Bharat campaign hit another landmark, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri along with the Chief Minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar launched the ‘Protocol for Star Rating of Garbage-Free Cities’ in order to fulfill India’s biggest dream of being a clean nation by October 2, 2019. The star-rating initiative has been developed by the Swachh Bharat Mission – urban and is one of its kind initiatives by the government just like Swachh Survekshan. The Star Rating System has one distinctive feature from Swachh Survekshan and that is that many cities can have higher stars as compared to only one city being the Cleanest city under Swachh Survekshan.
Also Read: Swachh Survekshan 2018: Actor Shah Rukh Khan On How To Curb Waste Generation By 50%
Here are five things related to Smart Star Rating that you should know:
1. What Is Star-Rating Initiative
The star-rating initiative has been developed by the Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban, through this all the Indian cities will get a rating on a 7-star rating system based on multiple cleanliness indicators for solid waste management and that these are –
- Is door to door garbage collection system in place in all parts of the area
- If people of the area segregate waste at source
- How often sweeping is done
- How effectively waste is managed through scientific processing
- Status of scientific landfills
- The way plastic waste is being managed
- Construction and demolition management
- Dump remediation
- Citizen grievance redressal system
2. The Rating Criteria
From 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 – the cities can be rated anything between these numbers and on their compliance with the protocol conditions specified for each of the rating.
If the city is aiming for a 3-star rating or above, then it is a mandate that the city should be Open Defecation Free (ODF).
3. How Will The Rating System Work?
The cities may self-declare themselves as 1-star, 2-star or 4-star, but the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will carry out an additional verification through an independent third party to certify cities as 3-star, 5-star or 7-star.
Also, cities will need to get recertified themselves every year to retain their star-status.
4. A Significant Feature Of Star Rating
The most significant feature of the rating is that it provides stakeholders with a single metric to rate a city’s cleanliness, rather than evaluating them separately with multiple factors that contribute to a city’s overall cleanliness and garbage free status.
The SMART rating is being called as Single metric, Measurable, Achievable, Rigorous verification, Targeted.
5. Agenda Behind The Launch Of Star-Protocol
SBM-Urban’s objective of achieving a ‘clean India’ is encapsulated in the vision statement of the star-rating protocol, the aim is to make all the cities Garbage Free wherein at any point of time in the day, no garbage or litter is found in any public, commercial or residential locations in the city (except in litter bins or transfer stations).
Another objective is to make cities 100% waste free wherein the waste generated is scientifically managed. Additionally, via this protocol, the government aims for a steady reduction in the waste generation.
Also Read: Sustainable Waste Management Is The Need Of The Hour: Minister Hardeep Singh Puri
