Swachhata App Gains Popularity In India, Over Two Lakh Cleanliness Related Complaints Get Filed Every Month

New Delhi: Littered roads, dirty public toilets or garbage dumps were some of the issues that bothered everyone but due to limited grievances mechanisms available it turned into a neglected topic in India. With the launch of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan these issues have become of prime importance over the last three years. To ensure that this technology driven generation is involved, the Centre launched the ‘Swachhata App’ in 2016 where citizens can complain about cleanliness and sanitation.

In last 16 months, the app has considerably gained popularity with more than 1 million downloads and an average registration of 2.30 lakh complains per month. And the huge number of complaints every month is a reflection of how well the Clean India Mission has been integrated into the society.

Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development Hardeep Singh Puri revealed this figure in the Lok Sabha in a reply to a question and said, “On Swachhata App, an average of two lakh thirty thousand (2,30,000) complaints per month are registered and two lakh ten thousand (2,10,000) complaints per month are redressed.”

Also Read: Swachh Bharat Abhiyan App Launched For 116 Monuments, Visitors Can Now Report About Uncleanliness

The app was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to solve the urban sanitation problems. Anyone residing in urban areas of India can download the app and register his/her complain.  Once the complaint is registered, it the concerned municipal body gets notified post which it an action needs to be taken within 24 hours. The app has been built by IChangeMyCity – a division of Janaagraha, a Bengaluru based non-profit organisation with an aim to improve India’s cleanliness quotient. Once the issues are resolved, the urban local body will update the status of progress through a management information system platform on a web portal. An update along with the ‘resolved’ image will be sent to user.

The app is user-friendly as one has to simply click a picture of the civic-related issue and post it in one of the nine categories. The sections range from garbage dump, garbage vehicle not arrived, dustbins not cleaned, sweeping not done, dead animals, public toilet(s) cleaning, public toilet(s) blockage, no water supply in public toilet(s) and no electricity in public toilet(s).

The Swachhata App being one of the parameters on which the cities will be ranked in the Swachh Survekshan (which begins from January 4), the urban local bodies are racing towards solving maximum number of complaints possible to gain high marks and are urging citizens to download the app.

The app is available for Android and iPhone mobile phones and can be downloaded from the respective app stores.

Also Read: Swachh Survekshan To Begin On January 4, We Will Have A Look At The Strides We Are Making In Cleanliness And Areas That Need Attention: PM Narendra Modi