NEW DELHI: Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, launched the seventh edition of Swachh Survekshan (SS) on Monday, September 27. SS is the world’s largest urban cleanliness survey conducted by Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U). With the theme pf ‘People First’, SS 2022 is focussed on capturing the initiatives of cities for the welfare of people and well-being of sanitation workers.
SS 2022 will honour and recognise the contributions of sanitation workers in India and the central government has pledged to focus on their holistic welfare. This year, the survey has also included specific indicators which drive the cities to improve working conditions and employment opportunities for the frontline sanitation workers. In keeping with the theme of this year’s SS, wisdom of elderly will be given due privilege and their feedback will be an integral part of the survey.
MoHUA also kicked off the week-long celebration of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ where the SBM-U will organise a series of activities under the theme of ‘Jan Bhagidari’. Campaigns such as ‘Kachra Alag Karo’ will be aimed at sensitising people regarding waste segregation which is important for effective waste management. During this week, MoHUA will also award urban local bodies (ULBs), citizen leaders, waste entrepreneurs, non-government organisations (NGOs), etc. for driving cleanliness in their surroundings.
This year SS will also recognise the efforts by smaller cities by introducing two more population categories – ‘Under 15,000’ and ‘Between 15,000-25,000’. Puri said during the event that SBM is an important and transformative programme of the country which has been successful due to the contribution of all stakeholders.