Union Ministry Launches Swachh Survekshan 2019, Survey Toolkit, ODF+ And ODF++ Protocol, Swachh Manch

New Delhi: Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri launched the fourth edition of the annual cleanliness survey of urban India – Swachh Survekshan 2019 on Monday, August 13 in New Delhi. Widening its scope, this year, Swachh Survekshan 2019, will be conducted across all cities and towns in the country. The cleanliness survey is expected to begin from January 4, 2019 and will continue till January 31, 2019. Along with this, the minister launched Swachh Survekshan 2019 survey toolkit, ODF plus and ODF plus plus toolkit and swachh manch – a web portal, to encourage large scale citizen participation.

Also Read: Swachh Survekshan 2018: Maharashtra Is The Second Best Performing State And Gets Top Honours In 9 Categories

While the Swachh Survekshan 2019 survey toolkit contains the detailed survey methodology and component indicators with scores to help cities prepare themselves for taking the survey, ODF plus and ODF plus plus protocol focusses on sustaining ODF tag by ensuring toilet functionality, cleanliness and maintenance and fecal sludge management. Sharing the details of both toolkit and protocol, Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, said, “The purpose of this toolkit is to provide guidelines for cities and towns that have already achieved ODF status and are working towards ensuring sustainability of the ODF status.”

He added, “It provides the detailed SBM ODF+ and ODF++ protocol laid along with declaration formats to be obtained from various stakeholders, that wards/work circles and cities are required to submit, as part of declaration and certification process.”

A web portal ‘Swachh Manch’ was launched with a motive to bring together different stakeholders under one roof. It is for the citizens to connect and contribute to the overall cleanliness of their respective areas.

Also Read: Swachh Survekshan 2018: Karnataka’s Mysuru Is ‘India’s Cleanest Medium City’

Features Of Swachh Survekshan 2019

1. This year, cities will be ranked out of the total of 5,000 marks and data will be equally collected from four different sources – citizen feedback, direct observation, service level progress and certification for garbage and open defecation free cities.

Also read: Things To Know About Swachh Survekshan 2018

2. Under service level progress, all the cities will be evaluated on seven different parameters.
-Collection and transportation of municipal solid waste (27 per cent)

-Processing and disposal of municipal solid waste (30 per cent)

-Sustainable sanitation (25 per cent)

-IEC (Information, Education and Communication) (5 per cent)

-Capacity building (3 per cent)

-Innovation and best practices (5 per cent)

-Bye-laws (5 per cent)

3. As far as certification is concerned, 25 per cent weightage of marks is given to the star rating certification and 5 per cent weightage of the marks has been allotted to open defecation free certification achieved by cities.

Also Read: Swachh Survekshan 2018: Here Are India’s Top 3 Cleanest Cities

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.