Swachh Survekshan 2020: Will Indore Win The Cleanest City Of India Title For The Fourth Time?

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be announcing the results of the fifth ‘Swachh Survekshan 2020’ today. Claimed to be the largest cleanliness survey undertaken by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) every year, it ranks India’s cities, towns and states based on sanitation, waste management and overall cleanliness. In its fifth year, the format of the survey was tweaked to adopt a Swachh Survekshan League model, where instead of once in a year exercise, the survey was conducted every quarter. Announcing this format for the survey 2020 last year in June, Mr Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs explained,

Every year, the Swachh Survekshan is redesigned innovatively, to ensure that the process becomes more and more robust, with focus on sustaining the changed behaviours. However, one concern that was commonly voiced was that cities cleaned themselves up just before a survey and slipped down after that. This year, therefore, we are launching the ‘Continuous Survekshan’ – the SS 2020 League, where cleanliness assessments will happen throughout the year – similar to the continuous assessments that are followed in schools and colleges – and feed into the larger annual survey in January 2020.

This year’s survey ranked a total of 4,242 cities, 62 Cantonment Boards, and 92 Ganga Towns and saw unprecedented participation of 1.87 crore citizens. The results will be unveiled at a ceremony, “Swachh Mahotsav” by the Prime Minister. PM Modi will launch the Swachh Survekshan 2020 results dashboard and will also be interacting with select beneficiaries, swachhagrahis (Clean India Warriors), and Safai Karmis (Sanitation Workers) under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) from different parts of the country through video conference, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Has your city won the crown of "Swachhata" in the #SwachhSurvekshan2020 ?

Watch the live webcast of "Swachh Mahotsav" from 11AM onwards on 20th August 2020 by clicking on the link below!

Webcast:https://t.co/giDVSLm4gb

Youtube:https://t.co/zZzi4qNyXe#MyCleanIndia pic.twitter.com/kLRzrBOSte

— Swachh Bharat Urban (@SwachhBharatGov) August 18, 2020

Also Read: Swachh Survekshan 2020 Gets Underway, Here Is How Cities Will Be Assessed This Year

On December 31, 2019 the Ministry announced the results of the first and second quarter of the Swachh Survekshan league 2020. Along with this the 28-day exercise for the fifth edition of the annual urban cleanliness survey was rolled out on January 4 and it culminated on January 31.

In both the quarters of the Swachh Survekshan league 2020, Indore held the first position

The results of the first and second quarter of Swachh Survekshan League 2020 saw Indore hold on to the title of India’s cleanest city for the fourth consecutive year. In the first quarter (April – June 2019), under the category of cities having a population of over 10 lakh, Indore held the first position followed by Bhopal and Surat. Whereas, in the second quarter of the Swachh Survekshan League 2020 Indore, Rajkot and Navi Mumbai topped the charts.

The competition among cities have been intensifying over the years to improve their cleanliness quotient. So will Indore continue its dominant position of the last three years and hold on to its title or will it be upstaged by some other city? The results will be out soon.

Also Read: Swachh Survekshan 2019: Indore is India’s Cleanest City Again, Top 10 Highlights

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.